Begin Again
by xlightersintheair
Summary: A lot can change in four years, people, places; but is it enough time for feelings to change? For AJ and Phil, that question will soon be answered, will it be the one that they are hoping for? *sequel to Long Live*
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: **I am aware that I promised this story ages ago, but it just wasn't possible for me schedule wise. Besides, this is a sequel to my best story to date, I wanted it to be perfect! I hope that everyone finds this story to be as interesting (and worth the wait) as the first one!

This story will have its share of twists and turns, drama, romance, comedy; everything that 'Long Live' had. There will be mentions of a few new people, but I'm going to keep the main focus on the old crew.

With that being said, here is the first chapter of my new baby, 'Begin Again', please enjoy!

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE  
**_a journey of a thousand miles, begins with one step_

* * *

"Well, that's the last of it, roomie."

Slamming the truck of her matte pink _Cadillac _Natalya sauntered over to AJ, who stood by her yellow drop top _Camaro_. Their four years of University had come and gone, now came the time for something neither of them were quite ready for; their goodbyes. Enveloping each other in their arms, they chose to remain silent for the time being, once they pulled apart they could see just why; the tears were welling up in their eyes. One word would have caused a downpour. They had spent almost every day for the past ten years together, what were they supposed to do now?

"Oh, Nattie! I'll miss you so much!"

"I will too, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself! How will I ever survive without our movie nights?"

The brunette offered a small smile to her friend, "I'm sure that your new job will keep you busy enough, you big Chicago detective you."

The blonde beamed when she was called that, she was proud of herself, and she should be. Nattie had worked tirelessly for the past four years, fifteen hour course semesters, plus interning, and trying to keep up with a job to pay the bills? A weaker woman would have given up after the first semester, but not her, she was a fighter and nothing was going to keep her from realizing her dreams. If anyone deserved a shot at the 'big time' so soon, it would be her.

"And you? AJ Lee, DVM… it has a nice ring to it! I'm so proud of you, you've had so much to battle through; and you did it all with a smile on your face. You'll do such great things, kid."

"Well, I still have four more years until we can attached DVM to my name, I couldn't have gotten through any of that without you by my side."

"Oh, those years will fly by, just like these did!" after giving her another, she pulled away, "Until then, are you sure that you want to go back to Andrus? What if Phil isn't even there anymore? Or what if he's… over you?"

Those last two words hurt her more than she'd like to admit. That question had crossed her mind from time to time, more so in the last few days. But she wasn't the type of person to leave things in a 'what if' state. They very last time they talked, she had promised to come back to him. Even if they were no more, she just _had _to be sure.

"I just have to be sure." She repeated out loud. "Either way this goes, I need to know, and I'm ready to face whatever consequences come from my actions four years ago. Besides, if it doesn't work out, Athens and my dad are right down the road for me to run to."

"Right… Chicago is always there as well, I'll have a spare bedroom made up for you whenever you want to come up!" embracing her in what would be their last hug for a while, "if you need a_nything _do not hesitate to call, I'll never be too busy for you, okay?"

Nodding, the brunette allowed a few tears to run down her face, "I will, and if Louie needs a checkup, you know who to call. I love you, so much."

"I love you too, babe, I'll see you soon; let me know when you get there? Also, tell Ashley and Randy that I said hello."

Releasing each other, AJ watched as she walked to the driver's side of her vehicle, and slid into her seat. Even through the heavy tint, the blond could be seen hunched over, finally letting all of her built up tears fall. Building up the courage to not do the same, she slipped inside her own vehicle, picked the perfect Pandora station for her drive, and drove out of the driveway. Passing all the homes that she had grown accustomed to seeing every day in their gated community, she felt the knot in her throat get bigger.

"April Jeannette Lee, you better not start crying. It's time to move on, you've got your whole life ahead of you now."

Reaching the gate, she rolled down her window and handed the gatekeeper her key, "Here you go, Tom, see you around." She nodded as he wished her well in her future. Soon enough, she found herself headed North on I-75, with the music blaring, she stepped on the gas in an effort to keep up with all the traffic.

She smiled nervously when she read a sign that said, 'Andrus 300 miles', "I'm coming back to you, Phil, please be there."

* * *

She should have graduated yesterday, if he still had his calculations right. He could see her now, that infamous – and infectious – smile across her face, receiving what she had worked so hard for. He wished that he could have been there, even if she didn't know, it would have been nice to see her. But the urge to run to her and envelope her in a hug would have been too strong for him to handle.

Besides, what if she was over him by now? She probably had a boyfriend, one whose family she met over Christmas break, the family fell in love with her; and now she's engaged. The thought of all of that killed him.

He hadn't done well for himself after she left, when she didn't come back that next summer, he just continued to spiral downhill. He just wanted a rewind button. He wanted to go back to the beginning of that summer, he'd do it all so differently; he'd make her _want _to stay. But then, she'd most likely be unhappy had he done that; she wouldn't have the chance to chase her dreams, and she'd surely take that out on him.

But wouldn't he be better off right now, had she stayed? Of course.

That would have given their relationship a chance to actually _be _a relationship. Then, if they didn't work out, he'd know that they at least gave it their all; instead of just leaving themselves in this big 'what if' situation. But, as per usual, he doesn't get what he wants. The man upstairs must enjoy seeing him in pain.

"Hey, Punk, your break is up, buddy."

Tossing his trash in a nearby bin, he walked to the door marked 'employees only' and clocked back in. Waving off his co-worker to their own break, he then stood behind his register, "Hello, welcome to Edgar's Convenience Store, where we aim to please."

As he rang up their items, he quickly glanced at the clock next to him. Five more hours until it was time for him to head home, and with AJ on his mind, today was definitely going to be a long one.

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**a/n: **I am so incredibly happy to have this chapter done for y'all, I know that y'all have been waiting for quite some time! Please let me know what y'all think in a review, they are much appreciated! I hope that I didn't disappoint anyone!


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: **Thank you all so much for all of the love on the first chapter! I'm so sorry that there has been a delay on getting the second chapter out, but, here it is!

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO  
**_tell me where to go from here_

* * *

"_Boys! Ten minutes till dinner, please clean up!_"

"Alright, X, we have time for one more down, you ready?"

"Yeah, Dad!"

Getting in the quarterback position, he did a quick three count, before yelling out "hut, hut"! Watching as his son took off sprinting down the front yard, he couldn't help but smile as he watched him juke his 'defenders', and then jumping up and down when he got into the end zone. Randy had never gotten time like this with his own father, who was always out of town on business, he'd be damned before his own son had to say that.

"Randal Keith and Xavier Reid!"

"Get ready, son!"

Extending his arm back, he threw the ball hard enough to get to his son, but gentle enough as to not hurt him. To his surprise, the ball was caught, he loved Xavier, but he had the coordination of his mother when it came to sports. These sessions must really be paying off. Running over to him, he enveloped him in a hug, "That's my boy! Let's go tell, mommy!"

Carrying him inside, they then walked into the kitchen where Ashley was placing food on their plates. With her hair tied up in a messy bun, and her makeup removed, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. And she was all his. After telling her about their sons' latest feat, he sent him on his way to get cleaned up. Upon washing his own hands, he then helped her set the table for their dinner.

"Vi and Char aren't coming over tonight?"

"No, I can't remember what she said they were doing, but they aren't going to make it."

The duo were a regular at their dinner table, especially since Phil had left then about three years ago. The whole situation was tough for everyone, but they were getting through it day by day, together. Once everyone was seated, they said a quick prayer, then dug into their food.

"So, the bank called again today."

When she shot him a look that he knew all too well, he turned to his side, "Hey, bud, why don't you take your dinner to the living room? I hear there's a _Ninja Turtle _marathon on."

"Sweet! Thanks, Dad!"

After he left them, he turned back to Ashley, "For the house, or the shop?"

"Both. They're threatening to take one away, if we don't get paid up in three months, we'll either be homeless or jobless."

Randy sighed, when the three of them were there, everything was paid on time. They split the bills in half. But now it's just the tow of them paying it all, and with business being slow plus a child, the line was definitely being stretched thin. Violet helped when she could, but she had bills of her own that she struggled with.

"What are we supposed to do, Randy?"

"I can call my par-"

"No! They don't agree with our careers, we don't need them knowing that we're failing."

"I'd rather swallow my pride, than be on the streets!"

"Keep your voice _down_."

"Look, I don't like this situation any more than you do… but if we don't ask _someone _for help, we'll end up crawling back to St. Louis anyway. So, what do you want me to do?"

Wiping a stray tear, she sighed, "We have three months to figure something out. Until then, you say _nothing _to them."

Shaking his head, Randy excused himself from the table, "This isn't something we should put off." He stated before leaving the room completely.

Gathering the plates, Ashley made her way to the kitchen, as she waited for the dishwasher to warm up; she glance over at Phil's house, "Dammit, Phil, just come back to us. We need you."

* * *

If there were ever a time where she thanked God for tinted windows, it would be this time. She had been parked on the opposite side of _Chesnutt Avenue_, a few houses down from Phil's place. A smile came across her face when she saw Randy outside playing with his son. He looked to be taking the daddy role very well. Ashley had stepped outside for a couple minutes, she looked as beautiful as ever. Their family was absolutely perfect.

It took everything in her to not drive up and greet them. The bad taste known as AJ Lee was probably still in their mouths, and she didn't blame them. The way she left was unacceptable, even if they knew that it would come eventually. At the time, it seemed proper, but not it just seemed unfair to everyone involved. Especially their neighbor.

Now that her mind was one her ex-beau, she wondered where he was at. His dark green _Jeep Wrangler _wasn't in his driveway, she knew that he wasn't at the shop – as that was her first stop. She was aware of how stalkerish that sounded, but she just wanted a glimpse of him. Those hopes were diminished when she pulled up, and there was absolute darkness in the building, so that's why she came here.

Once she noticed that the sun was beginning it's descend, she decided that it was time for her to head to the beach house. She wasn't sure what tomorrow would hold, in all honesty tomorrow's actions may be the same as todays. Her nerve to confront any of them hadn't quite built up yet, she wasn't even sure when that would happen.

Not keeping in touch with any of them, had proven itself to be quite the mistake. Where did she stand with them? Could she just pop back in like nothing had ever happened, or would she need to work to get back into their good graces? The latter part of that question was more than likely the answer. She was way in over her head on this one.

As she pulled into the garage of her home, she shot Natalya a text informing her of her safe arrival. Grabbing her necessities, she then made her way into the beach house, her nightly routine of showering and changing into pajamas took up a good hour and a half of her time. Once she was able to lay in bed, her body automatically began to shut itself down, this had truly been a long day.

Yawning, she turned to her side in an attempt to get herself comfortable. The moon was just beginning to come up over the water, she had truly missed this place. Running her hand over the pillow next to her, she felt a knot begin to twist up in her stomach, oh how she wished that he was next to her. Their last night together was spent exactly like this, not much was said; they just laid there holding each other.

As the darkness was closing in on her, she felt a tear run down her cheek, she didn't know how or when she would get back to Phil; she just knew that she had to, even if he didn't allow her back in.

* * *

**a/n: **So, there we have it! I truly hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter, let me know what y'all think in a review! I had a couple messages asking about the other girls from "Long Live", I will be cluing y'all in down the line! We'll also be seeing some of Violet and her sweet daughter Charlotte soon! A picture of Xavier will be up on my Twitter, if y'all want to see what he looks like. Link is in my bio!


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n: **Here's another chapter, hope y'all enjoy it!

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**CHAPTER THREE  
**_haven_

* * *

If there were ever one activity that he truly felt free doing, it would be running. The wind blowing through his hair, music blaring through his earbuds; it was a relaxing process for him. All the built up anxiety was gone in the span of an hour or so, he almost felt like his old self again. The best part of it all, was his midway point.

It was at the top of an old hill, no one seemed to go up there anymore; which suited him just fine. Sitting on its peak, he got to see the whole town of Daye, Georgia, the place he had called home for the past three years. The town itself wasn't as beautiful as Andrus was, it damn sure didn't mean as much to him either, but it provided a wonderful chance at a new life for him. For that, he was grateful.

It was here that he did most of his thinking, it was peaceful up here. No distractions, just him and his mind; which wasn't always a pleasant thing to be alone with, but he knew that he needed this time out. This thirty minutes or so gave him the strength to get through his entire day.

Inevitably, this is where s_he _was free to run through his mind. He didn't have to suppress the mixture of sadness and anger that came over him. He sounded like a broken record, of that he was sure. But he just couldn't help it.

AJ had been the one to put a light back in his life, she gave him the motivation to get through the hard days. He had opened himself up to a girl once more, allowed himself to feel love once again, to feel _happy _again. Those few weeks with her had opened his world up to everything that felt right, much like Alyssa had.

Then she was gone, she left and took his heart with her. He held on for that year, she had texted him a couple times, to her they may have been just messages; but to him, they were hope. All of which was gone when she didn't come back after her first year. She hadn't said that she would, but he had just figured as much.

When she didn't appear after the first week of summer, he made the decision to leave. He left a note for Violet to find, he didn't put much of an explanation, just that he had to go and not to bother calling. Which, for the record, everyone seemed to ignore.

At the time of his departure, he didn't have a single clue as to where he was heading. He just knew that he had to be away from Andrus, and all of the memories it held. What he did know, was that he wouldn't be gone for a long time, he just had enough money to stay gone for a couple months. That was until he walked into, _Edward's_, to fuel up.

The guy behind the counter looked frustrated as he scanned the customers in front of him. When it was his turn to check out, curiosity got the best of him and he asked what the problem was. His brown eyes shot up in a 'what's it to you' fashion. After seeing that he wasn't just going to walk away, the man sighed.

"I just got roped into a double, I'm missing my baby sister's high school graduation."

"Damn… that sucks, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, your sympathy does nothing for me." He then put his snacks in that bag, "have a good night, sir."

"No, _you _have a good night."

"You're an asshole."

Chuckling, he threw his bag back on the counter, "Now, is that any way to talk to the guy who's going to take your shift?"

"Excuse me?"

Walking around the counter, Phil cracked a sly smile, "You heard me, I am taking over."

"Wh-what? You can't… you need training! And my boss, he'll freak."

Throwing his hands in the air, "Whoa, whoa… not to be an ass, but I don't think that it takes a whole lot of training to push some buttons. Now, I'm gonna go move my _Jeep_, and when I get back, you'll give me a little rundown, and then be on your way to see that sister of yours."

Before the man could contest, Punk went out to do what he had just said, when he got back, the cashier was pacing back and forth behind the counter.

"Hey, I know how this looks… but I promise you, I'm not crazy. I'm not going to rob the place, I'll leave it just like I get it." He couldn't tell if the man had given in or not, so he decided to try a line that he knew would work on him, if the roles were reversed, "C'mon man, imagine the look on her face when she sees you in the stands. This is a big moment, you shouldn't have to miss it. I'm trying to give you the opportunity not to."

Sighing, he looked around as if to he were weighing his options, "Alright… we usually get slow around this time anyway."

It took about fifteen minutes for him to give him the basics on how to run the place, "Okay, so that's basically it. We'll be closing at ten, I should be back by then, so you don't need to worry about it."

Phil watched as he grabbed all of his stuff and headed for the door, "I'll see you in a couple hours, thanks again…?"

"Phil… but pretty much everyone calls me, Punk."

"I'm Seth, nice to meet you."

With that, he was out the door and didn't return until later, like he had promised. The duo hit it off pretty well, and he was invited to his sister's celebration party the next night. One thing led to another and Punk got a job at the place, Seth helped him out with an apartment, and the rest was history.

Seth was the only person he felt comfortable talking to. He knew everything from Alyssa, the baby, Randy, Ashley, and of course, AJ. At the same time, he also shared stories from his past.

He had a Bachelor's degree, in Business to be exact. The first job he ever got offered was in New York, but his mom had gotten sick, so he decided to stay home. Working at _Edward's _wasn't exactly glamorous, but it paid his bills, and he was only a few minutes away from his family, should they need him. Seth wasn't like anyone else he had ever met before. He had such a different outlook on life, it was nice to see things from another person's perspective.

Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, he pulled it out and saw that it was the guy he was thinking about. Today was their only day that they had off together, so they usually hung out together. Whether it be at one of their houses, or Seth's parents' house. This day in particular would be spent with his parents, it was his dad's birthday, so the usual cookout and small celebration was in store for them.

The text was a mere reminder for the day's festivities, and also to tell him not to forget about picking up the cake that had been ordered. He replied, telling him that he would get what was needed, and not to worry about it.

Once the message was sent, he decided that it was time to head back home. By the time he got there and got ready, it would be time to leave. With his music playing, he set foot on the pavement and began his five-mile trek home.

Today would definitely be a good day.

* * *

**a/n: **So, what did y'all think? And in case y'all are wondering, yes the Seth in the story is Seth Rollins. I hope that everyone is having a great day, and have a wonderful weekend!


	4. Chapter 4

**a/n: **here's another chapter, thank y'all so much for the continuing support! =)

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**CHAPTER FOUR  
**_deal._

* * *

"Do you have enough meat for six more? Some more cousins may come."

"Mom… I thought this was a small thing? It's not a family reunion, ya know."

Phil laughed as Margaret Rollins rolled her eyes and walked back in the house. Her son had a knack for complaining when it came to big groups of people, especially when they weren't expected. Nonetheless, he grabbed a few more patties and threw them on the grill. Today was about his dad, after all, and if six more guests made him happy; then so be it.

Today had turned out to be a beautiful one, the clouds from earlier had dispersed, allowing the sun to shine through. With a cool breeze added to the mix, they chose to man the grill and let everyone else take care of the other stuff. Plus, it gave them a break from the heavy dose of estrogen inside the house.

Being by themselves also gave them a great opportunity to catch up on anything they had missed for the past couple of days. Sure, they kept in touch over text messages and such but it's easy to lie over technology. They knew each other well enough, that they could tell when one was trying to keep something from the other. Phil knew that Seth had been going through some stuff with his girlfriend; he was ready to settle down and take their relationship to another level, her? Not so much.

"Is Leslie going to make it?"

"Um… yeah, she may be here a little later on."

Leslie Abbott.

She was Seth's girlfriend and had been such for the past three years or so. As previously stated, she was having an issue with settling down. Strange really, usually girls can't wait to 'get a ring on it', but she just wasn't up for it. He thought that her reasoning was fairly simple, she didn't want to marry a gas station employee.

Of course, Seth gave every other possibility _but _that one.

"You know that you don't have to lie to me, right?"

Sighing, he closed the lid on the grill and sat on a nearby chair, "Fine. No, she isn't coming."

"Hm… where is she? Working?"

He shook his head, "No… she's on her way to California."

"Vacation?"

"For the love of Christ… no. She's gone, Punk, forever. She's never coming back, she officially doesn't want me anymore. She wants Brad from L.A."

"Brad?"

"Yeah, he actually went to school with us." For a moment there was silence between them, until he spoke up once again, "I should have known, he's all clean-shaven, he has an actual career. He's the perfect guy for her to take home… and I'm not."

"Dude… that's rough, I'm sorry." Sitting adjacent to his friend, he gave him a concerned look, "are you going to be alright?"

"Me? Pft… yeah, she was only the love of my life; I'm sure that I'll find a way to move on."

"You will, Seth. There's a million other women out there, you'll find someone else."

He shook his head and shrugged off the idea, then went back to the grill, "I don't know man, that connection that I had with her? It'll never happen again."

"That's exactly what I said when I lost Alyssa, and then AJ came along, and… well maybe _this _isn't the best example."

"Yeah, maybe not."

"Look… all I'm trying to say is… don't be too hung up on her. I know from firsthand experience, that it's not healthy."

"Mhm… so why are you still?"

"Why am I still what?"

Giving him a sideways glance, he scoffed, "Why are you still hung up on AJ?"

"You know damn well why, I felt a connection with her… something I thought that I'd never feel again."

"Mhm… mhm… like me? Yet you're telling me to get over it, while you still get to wallow in your self-pity?"

Holding his hands up in mock defense, he sighed, "I never said it that harshly… I don't expect you to get over it today, I just want you to know that you _will _find someone else."

He shrugged, "Maybe I will, maybe I won't."

"Dude, you're like 25, you'll find someone else. I know that I've been sounding like a broken record for the past like fifteen minutes, but I believe in everyone I've said to you. I just wish that you'd believe it for yourself."

Sighing Seth fully faced his friend, "Okay, look; because my frustration is growing the longer this conversation goes, I'll make you a deal, okay?"

Phil nodded apprehensively, "Alright, let's hear it."

"Okie dokie, I'll get over Leslie, if you'll get over AJ."

Phil was a bit taken aback by his proposal, "Wh-what do you mean? How am I just supposed to get over her? You know that I've been trying, and I just can't."

"You _can't _because you haven't forced yourself to, you keep holding onto some dream that she's going to coming waltzing back into your life, but she's _not_. It hurts me to say that, but it's true."

Silence fell between the two for a short while, before Phil spoke up, "Okay, maybe you're right… it's just been tough for me, it's too hard to let go of something that didn't get a proper ending."

Seth nodded, "I know, I get it believe me; but you're not doing yourself a favor by holding onto that dream. You need to be happy, and the only way to do that is to truly let her go, and get back to living."

Feeling his stomach knot up, he glanced around. Should he really take this deal? What if AJ actually did come back? The possibility was slim, but he still felt like there was some. He understood that he wasn't doing himself any favors by still holding onto his hope, but at some points he felt like that was all he had. The possibility of her coming back was sometimes the only thing that kept him going.

"So, what do you say? Have we got a deal?"

Sighing he stretched his arm out, he knew that it was going to be a tough battle; but this was something that he knew had to get done. Especially since he had made himself out to be a hypocrite a few moments ago, by asking Seth to get over his own ex. He just hoped that he had enough strength to come out on top.

"Alright, Seth… you've got yourself a deal. Let's do this."

* * *

**a/n: **so there we have it! I hope that everyone likes the new addition to the story… how do y'all think this deal will work out?


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n: **this bad boy has been waiting for quite some time to be edited! I hope that y'all like it.

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE  
**_the house across the street_

* * *

Flipping the 'closed for lunch' sign over on the door, Randy sighed a sigh of relief. For it being a Wednesday, things had gone rather busily since he had opened at 9 AM. Of course, that could be just because he was all alone today. Ashley and Violet had taken the kids to Atlanta for some check-ups.

Even though the appointments were earlier that morning, he pleaded for them to make a day of it. So, he sent them with some extra money to go shopping, or whatever they wanted to do. He knew that if there was anything they needed, it had to be a day away from Andrus, and all the stressed that boiled inside of it.

Grabbing the keys to the shop, he made his way out of the back door and headed towards the coffee shop next door. A nice cup and a sandwich would give him the energy he needed to get through the day. Plus, he could use some interaction with people from the outside world. He had only had a couple customers in the shop today, and they weren't all that talkative.

_Emma Lou's _was a rather new establishment on the block, the owner had recently moved to town from Australia. Her grandpa had passed and left his fortune – including his house here in Andrus – to her. Her original plan was to collect the belongings and sell the house. But, within the two weeks she was there, she fell in love with the place, quit her job back in her homeland and became a permanent resident of Andrus, Georgia.

She used some of the money her grandpa had left her to buy this building and within a few months, the doors to her shop officially opened.

Walking through the door, he saw her wiping down the front counter, "Hey, Em, how's it going?"

"Randy! Hey, everything's good so far… having the usual?"

"Yes ma'am, you know me too well."

"It helps that you come in all the time, and order the same thing _every _time."

Laughing, he shrugged, "It helps that, that sandwich is the best."

"Oh, stop! You're gonna make me blush… where's Ashley?"

"Oh, she and Violet went to Atlanta, the kids had check-ups."

"Hm…" for a few moments only the sound of the radio static could be heard. Randy got busy with his sandwich, and Emma made herself busy by filling up the condiment containers.

"You wanna know what's weird?"

"Other than those dance moves of yours? Sure."

Playfully rolling her eyes, she continued, "For the past few months that I've been here, that house across the street from me has been abandoned. Now there's some yellow _Camaro _parked in the driveway.

"What's so weird about someone being in town for the summer?"

She shrugged, "Well _that _part isn't weird, what's weird is that it's been parked at the same spot, almost every day for the past week or so."

"And where's that?"

Pointing over his shoulder, "Right over there, across from your shop."

Turning in his barstool, he was able to see the car that Emma had been talking about. He had seen the vehicle himself for the past couple of weeks, he hadn't really thought anything of it, he had really thought that it was Emma's and since people buying new cars really wasn't any of his business; he never said anything about it.

Shrugging, he turned back around, "Maybe… the person owns the building it's parked next to?"

Shaking her head feverishly, the Australian woman hopped up on the counter, "No… I come in at 6:45 every morning. That car shows up around 9 or 10 and no one e_ver _gets out. It's giving me the creeps."

"Sheesh stalker much?" laughing a bit, he continued, "Hey maybe it's _you _that has the stalker? Maybe it's even a secret admirer?"

"Randy!"

"Okay, okay…" getting up from his seat, he reached for his wallet, "if you want… I can check it out for you."

"Oh, I'd love that! But it won't cause Rashley problems, will it?"

"One, I told you to stop calling us Rashley, and two, no Ashley likes you remember?"

Hearing the bell of her shop sound, she hopped down and reached for a scratch piece of paper, "Here's my address, they stay directly across from me."

"Why don't I just go check it out right now?"

"Because! What if they're crazy and try to shoot up everyone?!"

"Oh right, right… better me go to their house and be killed there. No witnesses."

Playfully rolling her eyes, she slid the paper over, "921 Ocean View, you can chill in my drive if you'd like."

"Right, I'll text you if I see anything… See ya later, Emma."

"'Kay, don't die please! That'll really cause some problems for Rashley."

**/**

The sun was beginning to set as he walked out of the shop. The day had passed rather slowly, he had only had two customers come in after he got back from his lunch break. Even still, he kept an eye out for the _Camaro_, it had come and gone a couple times, but it didn't stay too long either time.

Getting to this vehicle, he saw that Emma was sitting on his tailgate, eating a sandwich, "How long have you been out here?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, thirty minutes?"

"You could can just come in, ya now."

"Yeah… but the breeze was just too nice for me to pass up."

"Mhm… well, what's up?"

"I didn't want to go home until I knew that you had checked out my creepy neighbor."

"Em… I don't think that this person is of any threat to you. They would have already tried something."

She sighed, "Ugh, I know… it's just you put this idea of a stalker in my head, and now I'm creeped out."

Leaning against his truck, he sighed, "Alright, let's go check it out… Ashley is still on her way in anyway."

**/**

They arrived at Emma's place a few minutes later, the street lights guided them up the sidewalk, "You know, this place feels oddly familiar."

"How so?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, I just have this strange feeling."

After he knocked on the door, he turned to look at the street. Yes, this place was definitely triggering something in his brain, he just couldn't pinpoint it at the moment. Hearing Emma knock again, he walked over to the end of the house and looked around. This place… it definitely _was_ familiar to him, as it should be.

_This was AJ Lee's house._

Jogging back to the front of the house, he saw Emma still standing on the porch, "Hey look, this person… she's not going to hurt you, she's not even here _for _you."

"Who is she here for then? And how do you even know that it's a she?"

Before he could answer, the front door finally swung open. There AJ stood clad in plaid pajama pants, and a black tank top, her hair in a messy bun.

"Can I help you?"

Walking up the steps, he went towards Emma who – for once – was speechless. When he got to the light he watched as the expression on AJ's face went from confusion to utter shock. For a while, they stood in silence, he didn't really know what to say. Part of him wished that it was just some stalker of Emma's, at least then his fists would take care of the issue… he wasn't prepared at all for this moment.

Feeling a tug on his shirt, he looked down to see Emma's confused face, "Randy, what's going on?" She pensively whispered.

"I wish that I knew."

"Well, _say something_."

Turning back towards AJ, he cleared his throat, "AJ Lee, what in the hell are you doing back here?"

* * *

**a/n: **Dun, dun, duuuuun... So what do you guys think? Do y'all think that Emma will be a good addition to the group? Let me know in a review! ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**a/n: **I really wanted to have this up a long time ago, but unfortunately, I was short on time! But, I hope that you like what I've got.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX  
**_play your cards right_

* * *

The room was dead silent, the only sound that could be heard was the ticking of the clock behind them. And, the occasional obnoxious slurping of the tea she had given the blonde across from her. She wasn't exactly sure why she felt the need to invite them inside, she may as well of signed her death wish. But, if she had to be honest, she was glad that it was Randy and not any of the other three.

Seconds had passed like minutes, minutes like hours. In actuality it had only been thirty minutes since the trio had been in the dining room. But with Randy's icy blue eyes on her, it was understandable why she felt that way.

The clearing of someone's throat brought everyone out of their thoughts, it was the blonde. She was rising from her seat, "Well, since I have no purpose here, I'll just be going home."

"Emma, sit."

"Oh… okay." She sat down hastily.

"Aw, you found one that you could boss around. How sweet."

"Shut up, AJ."

Rolling her eyes, she leaned back against her chair. Crossing her arms in front of her, she looked from Randy to Emma, then back again, "So who is she? A side piece?"

"First of all, no and secondly, this isn't the hood, she wouldn't be called a side piece; and thirdly, you really don't want to be a bitch to me right now."

"So, how should I act then?"

"Like someone who needs to be giving me some answers!"

"Why? When you already know why I'm here."

"Why now, though? It's been four years, AJ. You don't just get to pop up whenever you want."

She shrugged, "Because right now, feels _right_. I know that I should have come earlier, but for some reason I didn't. And I know now that it was a bad decision for me to make."

"Do you know how hard it was for him? You never made a single attempt to get in touch with him, and we had to stand by and watch him sink back into a hole that had taken him so long to fill."

"I did try to contact him!"

Rolling his eyes, he scoffed, "Telling him that you made it to Florida, doesn't count!"

She felt her stomach tighten up, Randy was right. Other than a few messages here and there, she rarely reached out to him. She didn't do it intentionally of course, school was just so hectic; with extracurricular activities a_nd _volunteering at a veterinary clinic; all extra time was devoted to not drowning in homework. But still, she knew that none of that was a good enough excuse.

"You ruined him. Probably even more so than losing Alyssa… he _knew _why she couldn't come back. But you? You just left him hanging."

A tear rolled down her cheek, she didn't bother to wipe it away. Instead, she hung her head and let more come down.

"You can't cry your way out of this, AJ Lee." Feeling a hand slap his arm, he looked over at Emma, "What? She can't."

"Okay, maybe she can't, but lay off a little. Besides, Ash is calling, you should answer it, before she worries."

Reluctantly, he grabbed his phone and walked towards the front door; leaving the two women alone for the time being. Emma watched the brunette cry for quite some time, AJ seemed to be a horrible woman, the first few moments that she had known her. But, while she and Randy spoke to one another, she played close attention to her reactions. The woman clearly felt bad for what she had done.

No one else knew this, but Emma had done the same thing to her ex-boyfriend when she decided to move to the United States. She understood that sometimes life can get hectic and phone calls are sometimes not made, text messages not sent. It's tough, to watch something that you love so much wither away. Especially when it can all be prevented.

"AJ…"

It took a while for the girl to make any movements, but soon enough she looked up. Eyes blood shot, she muttered, "What?"

"Look, I know that I don't know you, but I think that everything is going to be okay. All you need to do is find this Phil character, and tell him e_verything _that you need to say. Even if he doesn't want to hear it."

"What do you mean by 'this Phil character'?"

Emma shrugged, "I've never met the man, I don't know what he's like."

She raised an eyebrow, "How have you met Randy, but not Phil?"

"Because according…"

"Hey, Em, we should get going."

Looking over at him, she sighed, "But, I'd really like to stay."

"Nonsense." He went over and grabbed her arm, "it's getting late and you need to be at your shop early, so let's go."

"Okay, fine. Just let me say goodbye and I'll be right behind you."

Stepping back, he groaned, "Whatever. I'll be on the porch, and don't think for a second that I am done with you, Miss Lee."

Going over to her side, Emma kneeled, "Come by my shop tomorrow around 7, the back entrance with be open; I'll tell you everything I know."

AJ nodded silently and watched her get up. She didn't let her get too far though, before she ran up in front of her. Emma could see the worry in her eyes, "You don't think that he told Ashley about me, do you?"

The Australian shook her head, "Nah, he may not be a very big fan of yours right now, but he would never unleash Ashley on you."

"Thanks."

Nodding, she gave her a quick hug, "Randy will be on your side, you just need to be honest with him. He's your ticket back in, trust me. You just need to play your cards right."

Nodding, AJ watched as she walked out of the front door. Things went better than she had originally thought when she had first seen them. She's probably had Emma to thank for that, Randy could have very easily torn her to shreds, if it weren't for her.

"_He's your ticket back in…"_

Those last few words she spoke to her, ran through her mind as she made her way upstairs. Could that possibly be true? Randy was a nice guy and everything, but would he really risk his relationship with the others that are involved? All signs pointed to the answer being no, but if Emma said it, there had to be a small chance, right?

Sighing, she crawled back into her bed, tomorrow would be an incredibly long day; of that she was certain.

* * *

**a/n: **Well there we have it, I really hope that y'all enjoyed it!


	7. Chapter 7

**a/n: **I hope that y'all enjoy this chapter! It took a while for me to get something going on this one, I hope that it was worth the wait! :)

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN  
**_phase one_

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Have I ever led you astray?"

"Well…"

"Okay, that was _one _time, I still have nightmares."

The two friends were at Seths place, filling up boxes of Leslie reminders. They had been at it since 12 in the afternoon, getting the 'show on the road' as Seth had put it. Clothes, jewelry, pictures; all were set to burn later that evening when such things were allowed.

Phil was still a little apprehensive about how all of this was supposed to work. How could just throwing things in a box and setting a flame to them erase all the memories in their minds? Though his time with AJ was short, the memories were still very present in his mind. He couldn't imagine how Seth was going to get over his three year relationship, just by doing this.

Whatever made him feel better, he supposed.

"Alright… that should be the last of it. Now, we move to your place!"

"Well, there's actually not much at my house."

"You're bound to have _something _from those two months."

"It was _one _month, actually. And no, I really don't have anything… just the memories in my head."

"Hm… maybe we can find a way to burn those too?"

Laughing, he motioned for help with his boxes, Phil followed him out to his backyard, where the bonfire would take place. Setting the boxes down, he found a spot to sit, after a while Seth joined him.

"This isn't any easier for me, you know? It's just… I feel like burning the past, blazes my trail for the future."

"How poetic." After a brief moment of silence, Phil spoke again, "All kidding aside, if this helps you, I'm all for it. I just don't think that it's going to help _me_. I don't have physical things, just images in my head. They play over and over again, it's almost like they're taunting me. Every time I think that I'm okay, boom," he clapped his hands together, "her face flashes in my mind, and I'm stuck all over again."

"Well, it's settled then, you'll help me handle things my way, and I'll help you with yours."

"Thanks, man. I'm not saying that it's going to be easy… there are times where I'm not going to want to play this game _at all_, but I'll figure out a way to get through it."

Seth shrugged, "Eh, I understand. You opened yourself up, and without that wall there to protect you… your heart got damaged again. It's imperative though, that you get through it somehow. It's what's best for you."

Phil nodded, he knew that his friend was right, but AJ had left such a gaping hole in his heart that he wasn't sure how to close it again. It was different with Alyssa, he knew there was no way to get her back. She was gone forever. With AJ, though, they were unfinished business. He knew that she was out there somewhere and it hurt to know that she probably wasn't even thinking about them like he was.

Even if she did, it obviously wasn't enough to make her come running to find him or get in any sort of contact with him whatsoever. Still, she would always hold a special place in his heart. No matter how much it hurt to keep her there.

* * *

Later that night, Phil arrived back at his apartment. Throwing his keys on the kitchen counter, he sighed, today had been one of the longest days he had had in a while. After the burning of Leslie's things, Seth ordered pizza and wings for them to eat while they watched some hockey games. Though he always enjoyed spending time with his best friend, it had just emotionally wore him out.

After a quick shower he lay in bed staring at the ceiling. It was always at this time of night that the image of AJ crept into his mind. He saw her the first time they made love in that cave on the beach, when she laughed that ridiculously cute laugh of hers after he had told a corny joke. There were so many things that he wished he could've said to her, so many things he wanted to do with her.

The thought of the life they could've had kept him up most nights.

Reaching inside his bedside desk, he grabbed a picture frame that he had hidden in there. Framed inside was a group picture, featuring himself, and the three others he had left behind all those years ago. Violet and Ashley were very pregnant, in fact the picture had been taken at their baby shower. It had taken place a couple weeks before Violet went into labor, Ashley had followed a couple months later.

Earlier that day they had found out that Ashley would be having a boy. Randy was ecstatic when he heard that news, they'd be overrun by women if it were a girl. Who knows how they would have handled that!

Most of the days weren't all that great for him. He sounded like a broken record, he knew that, he just couldn't help it. Sewing a heart back together wasn't an easy task. He knew that from prior experiences, but this time it was completely different than before.

He knew where Alyssa was, he knew why she couldn't come back to him. AJ… for some reason she _chose _to stay away, she _chose _to not give him closure. Not even the people back home could help him ease that pain. That's why he left, to start over, attempt to erase it all. Unfortunately, that hadn't worked too well for him.

And he wasn't sure when it would happen either.

* * *

**a/n: **So… what did y'all think? Let me know in a review! next chapter will be Emma and AJ meeting up!


	8. Chapter 8

**a/n: **So I have been wanting to write an update to this story for the longest time! But I just moved in by myself. I have a new job… so things have been crazy hectic for me! I do hope that y'all like this newest chapter though, let me know what you think in a review!

* * *

**CHAPTER** **EIGHT**  
_so it begins_

* * *

6:45.

AJ Lee sat in the back parking lot of _Emma Lou's_, staring at the clock on her dashboard. She had actually been here for the past 30 minutes or so, but she hadn't mustered up the nerve to actually walk into the shop.

She hadn't slept at all the night before. Emma's words kept playing over and over in her mind, what she had said about Randy not telling Ashley must have been true. She was still breathing after all.

Taking a deep breath, she finally reached for the car handle. This had to be done sooner or later, besides the longer she stayed there, the higher the risk of getting caught by a certain someone. Walking on the pavement, she took a moment to admire the red 1969 _Mustang _Emma drove around in. She knew that it belonged to the old man who used to live across from her family. They must have been related to her somehow.

Opening door, she walked down the very narrow hallway, following the pop music that was blaring throughout the place. Upon reaching her destination, she saw the blonde dancing around with some dough rolled between her hands. Her black outfit was covered in flour, her hair up in a loose bun.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to bring yourself inside."

Scrunching her eyebrows, AJ confusingly looked at her, "How did you even know that I was back there?"

Pointing behind her, AJ saw a flat screen television with four different views. One of which was the back parking lot.

"I ain't no fool, now do you think that you could help me with some of this? I have a huge order to fill this afternoon."

"I um, I don't know how."

The blonde smiled, "Don't you worry about that, I'll show you."

Nodding AJ walked over to the opposite side and grabbed a bowl of dough and listened to Emma's very basic instructions. For a while that's all the girls did, it was calming to say the least. Once they got that batch into the oven, Emma offered her a cup of coffee and some waffles, which she gladly accepted.

She watched as Emma doused her food with strawberries and whipped cream, before cutting a chunk and stuffing it into her mouth. Manners obviously wasn't a word she knew of, or maybe she just didn't care too much. When she got caught staring, she quickly ducked her head and started digging into her own meal.

"I guess we should get this thing started, huh? Randy or one of the girls should be in within the next couple of hours."

"Right," AJ agreed, "so I guess that I'll jump right into it… how do you know the others, but not Phil?"

That was the question that had been bugging her all night long. She had fought the urge to go knock at her door pretty well, even though it killed her not to know anything.

The blonde shrugged, "When I first became a permanent resident of Andrus, they all came to the grand opening of this place. He wasn't with them, quite frankly, he wasn't even _mentioned_." She cleared her throat, "I got invited to a cookout at Ashley and Randy's place, I saw pictures of Phil everywhere, so I asked about him eventually… they were frank about it, or at least Ashley was. She said, and I quote, 'some teenage bitch broke his heart and he split. No one has heard from him in 3 years.'"

Tear threatened to fall from her eyes when Emma finished her last sentence. She knew that she had hurt him, but she never thought that he'd actually leave his family behind. And to not get in contact with them? That didn't sound like the Phil she used to know. But then again, maybe that was the point.

"He didn't say where he went? No calls, letters, texts?"

"From what I can gather, no. He just vanished from one day to the next. They've tried his number, but he's been ignoring them, I actually think that it's been turned off now; and they don't even know where to begin looking. And since he's 30 something, the police aren't to be bothered with it."

Silence filled the room at that point, AJ wasn't sure what to say anymore. Not only had she ruined a man's life, but it seemed that she had ruined his families as well. When another question finally came to her mind, she met Emma's eyes once again.

"What did you mean when you said that Randy was my way back in?"

"I said that?"

"Those were your exact words, actually."

"Hm…" the blonde shrugged, "Well, Randy is a bit of a softie, I don't know if you know that."

"Nope. The Randy I knew could rip off your head if he wanted to. He did have his moments though, especially when it came to Ashley."

"Well, that was obviously pre-Xavier, that 'rip your head off' demeanor you spoke of, doesn't do too well, with his little boy."

Throwing her hands up in frustration, AJ sighed, "I came here because you said that you could _help _me."

"Well, I can."

"Can you do so without taking the scenic route?"

"Well, that's no fun," she joked before getting serious, "But okay… I meant what I said about him being your way back in; although we won't be using him directly."

"What does that even mean?"

With a sly smile across her face, Emma sat back on her stool, "I babysit Charlotte and Xavier on Fridays at my house. Randy, Ashley and Violet go to a bar downtown… they usually stay out rather late…."

"So… am I supposed to kidnap the kids and hold them hostage until I'm let back into the group?"

"What? No!" the Australian laughed nervously, "I don't like that look that came into your eyes, either… we're keeping things legal here."

"Alright… fine. So what do the kids have to do with anything?"

"Well, they're good kiddos, if I tell them to bring something – or s_omeone _-"she pointed at AJ suggestively, "up to only daddy or Uncle Randy… then they'll do it."

It took longer than she'd like to admit for things to start clicking in her mind, but once they did and huge smile came to her face, "If they nag him enough about me, then he'll be forced to get me back in!" she clapped her hands excitedly, "then, with all of us working together, we'll surely find Phil and bring him back home!"

"Am I a genius or what?!"

Running to the opposite side, AJ wrapped her arms around the blonde neck, "Yes, yes you are! Oh my goodness… this plan has to work!"

Hearing the back door open Emma started pushing her towards the side exit, "It will!" she said in an excited whisper, "Now get going before you get caught in here, you have some kids to win over tomorrow! I'll go by tonight and we'll think of a plan!"

Sneaking around to the back parking lot, AJ couldn't help but smile. Sure, this idea was rather unorthodox, but right now it was all she had to go on. At this point she was willing to do anything as long as it meant that she was closer to getting back into the arms of Phil Brooks.

* * *

**a/n: **What did y'all think? Do you think this is a foolproof plan, or is something bound to go wrong? Let me know what y'all think!


	9. Chapter 9

**a/n: **I'm so excited to be getting this story to y'all, I know that it's been awhile, I hope that it was worth the wait!

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE  
**_better hold on till it breaks_

* * *

"_Are you sure about me not helping you load the Jeep?"_

"_Yes, completely positive. Just go get Canaan, we don't want to be late for his first game; I hear that the Coach is a major asshole."_

"_Yeah, you're right. I hear that the assistant is pretty rough too, maybe a quickie in the dugout will help ease him up?" she said with a wink._

"_Mom, what's a quickie?"_

_With her face as red as a tomato, he watched as his wife knelt down in front of their son, and give him what was surely an unsatisfactory explanation. A feeling that turned out to be correct when he walked away stating that he'd "just ask Uncle Randy"._

_Walking over to where she was still crouched, he sat next to her, "So… I guess that means no quickie?"_

"_Oh, stop! He's only 5! I thought that we weren't going to have to worry about this stuff until like puberty."_

"_Baby, its fine. He's a kid, he'll forget about it before we even get to the field."_

"_And if he doesn't?"_

"_Well… well then its Uncle Randy's problem." He said with a smile, "Seriously though, this really isn't a big deal. He'll be onto the next thing before we know it."_

_Picking her up, he brought her in for a tight hug and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, "Now let's get going, I'm sure that everyone else is already headed that way."_

_It took them roughly 30 minutes to get to Easton Park, where they would spend a majority of their day. He and Randy coached Canaan's tee-ball team that morning, AJ and Ashley coached Charlotte's coach-pitch softball team, and lastly Xavier would be coached by himself and Randy. They became a sports family a few years before when Xavier and Charlotte played on the same tee-ball team. Canaan, who came along a couple years later grew up going to their games and made up his mind – at a very young age – that he wanted to be a ball player like his cousins. The rest was history._

_With his hand on her leg, he smiled as AJ belted out __**Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin''**__. It had always been a favorite of hers. So much so that it almost became their wedding song. Thankfully, Ashley and Violet were able to change her mind on that one. In reality though, he would have danced to anything with that woman. Just knowing that she was his forever, was all that he really cared about._

_They had been married for six years now. It had been a pretty glamorous wedding, she had the wedding of her dreams; he got the woman of his. She wore a strapless ivory colored gown, it hugged her body up until it reached her knee; then the toile poofed out, adding a touch of elegance to her look. Of course, she wore her __**Converse **__instead of the heels every bride is "supposed" to wear._

_But that was his girl, he wouldn't have her any other way._

_Glancing in his rearview mirror, he saw Canaan, who was playing with the stitches on his ball. He was such a smart kid, like his mother. In fact, almost everything about him was AJ, except for his eyes, they were green just like dads. Unfortunately, he also had his dad's extremely short temper. That got them called to the school more often than they'd like to admit. They were working on it though._

_Once they got to the park, he quickly found Randy's truck and pulled in next to it. Offering a friendly wave, he opened the back door and got Canaan out of his booster seat. After he ran off to be with his cousins, he was then met at his trunk by Randy. _

"_I thought that you guys would never get here." He said as he hurriedly got stuff out, "What took so long?"_

"_You really don't want to know."_

"_What did Canaan walk in on this time?"_

_Staring at Randy, he shook his head in disbelief, "Okay, that was __**one **__time. But no, AJ was joking about us having a quickie before the game. And of course, our little mister just happened to show up."_

"_Ouch, how'd you get around that one?"_

_Punk shrugged as he closed the door, "I have no idea what AJ said, but he didn't like it. So he's going to ask you." He added with a smile._

"_What? Dude, not cool."_

_Laughing, he left his friend behind to go find his wife, who was sitting in her lawn chair with the other two ladies. After giving his sister and Ashley hugs, he leaned down and gave AJ a kiss on the lips, "I'll see you after the game, Mrs. Brooks."_

_Once he started to descend down the small hill that led to the field, he heard her calling him. When he turned, he came face to face with her once again._

"_I love you Phil Brooks, more than anything." With that, her arms wrapped around his neck, and she began kissing him passionately. _

_When they broke apart, he had a huge smile on his face, "I love you too, AJ, so much."_

* * *

The sound of thunder woke him from his deep sleep. Once he gained full consciousness, he glanced at the time on his phone, 4:10 AM. Thankfully, he was off today, he usually worked the first shift, which ran from 7-2. Who knew when he'd be able to fall asleep again, he always had a hard time when he was woken up like this.

Throwing his blanket off of him, he decided to head downstairs and make himself a cup of tea. Hopefully it would ease him up a little bit.

That dream he was having of AJ had to be the most vivid dream he had ever had of her since she had left. So much so that he could smell the perfume she was wearing, Japanese Cherry Blossom. It had to do with her obsession of the country itself, but the smell was absolutely hypnotizing, just like she was.

He could almost feel her lips on his whenever they kissed. He felt himself pulling her closer to his body, chills ran up and down his body when her fingers traced over his abs.

It was all so _real_.

Stirring his tea, he watched as the storm tore through anything that was left outside. This hurricane had been on the radar for the past few days. He wondered if it was going to head towards Andrus or not. It so, he hoped that Ashley remembered to cover the pool and that Violet parked her car in the garage. They always seemed to forget those two things every single time it stormed like this. Randy would probably be too concerned about the shop if it got too bad.

Maybe it wouldn't be a horrible idea to go check on them. Just a simple drive through town, her wouldn't allow himself to stop; not that they'd recognize his new Jeep anyway. Seth was out of town for a couple days, so he couldn't stop him… this was the perfect opportunity.

As soon as he grabbed his keys, lightning cracked through the sky. Sighing, he threw the keys back on the counter and placed his empty cup in the sink.

"That dream is just messing with you, everyone is fine, and they don't need you. AJ is gone and you need to accept it and move on with your life." Once he got to his bedroom, he laid down and stared at the ceiling, "Now if only you could get yourself to believe that."

* * *

**a/n: **So, what did y'all think? Is Punks dream some sort of sign? In the next chapter we'll see if Emma and AJs mischievous plan works! Holla at ya girl in a review! Oh, and just in case there is some confusion, the italics are Punks dream.


	10. Chapter 10

**a/n: **Hey y'all! I know that it's been ages since I've updated, with work and lack of inspiration it's just been a bit difficult! Thanks to brainstorming other story ideas with Danie ( CelticPrincessx3), I've been able to put this little chapter together! I hope y'all like it!

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN  
**_renewed ambition_

* * *

"The backup generator should keep us going for a few hours at least."

"The kiddos are chowing down on their pizza, their iPads and the TV should keep them occupied for a while."

Nodding, AJ turned the A/C off and opened up a couple windows. This storm had blindsided them, forcing them to cut their beach day short. Xavier and Charlotte were a blast to be around, they reminded her of their parents in so many ways. The love they clearly had for each other was a beautiful thing to watch.

Charlotte had a lot of her Uncle Phil in her, as far as attitude went. She was a perfect little mix of Phil and Violet, she had her mom's brown eyes; and her Uncles smile. God she'd be so spoiled by him. He'd be putty in her hands.

Xavier, while he was basically Ashley's twin, he had Randy's calm demeanor. Which was probably best for everyone. Who knew if Andrus could handle two rebellious attitudes?

Grabbing a couple slices of pizza, AJ then walked into the dining room, where Emma had already made herself comfortable.

"So Randizzle just texted me. They're not letting anyone leave the bar, the roads flooded too quickly."

The brunette nodded, "Well that buys us a little more time at least."

"Yeah, Charlotte seemed to be warming up to you earlier."

AJ shrugged, "Yeah, I guess so, she was just asking me a bunch of random questions."

"Well, she doesn't really talk to anyone, so she must see something good in you."

"_Just like her Uncle." _She thought.

"She's a start, Xavier will follow suit. That's how they warmed up to me."

"Well, you didn't break their Uncles heart, so of course it was easy for you."

"They don't know that you did either, AJ!" Emma sighed, "But you are the key to possibly getting him back into their lives. Sure, their parents probably want to burn you alive, but get these kids on your side and they'll be forced to be nice to you!"

AJ shook her head, "No one forces Ashley Massaro to do anything, Violet too, for that matter."

Emma shrugged as she took a bite of her pizza, "True. _But, _like I said earlier, you're the key to getting him back home. If they really care about him, they'll have to let you do what you need to do."

AJ nodded, she knew that what Emma was saying was true. Unfortunately, AJ also knew that this wasn't going to be an easy feat. Ashley and Violet, even Randy for that matter; they weren't going to let her just waltz back into their lives. Even if their kids begged them to. Part of her wished that she would have just stayed away from Andrus. Actually, Georgia in general.

But she knew that she had to get this situation sorted, if she wanted to really carry on with her life. She didn't necessarily think that things would work in her favor, but if she could get the family back together; she'd be somewhat satisfied. Unfortunately, she was having to use odd tactics to get her there.

If it even worked, that is.

Almost as if reading her mind, Emma spoke again, "This is going to work. I know that it's a bit unorthodox, and probably illegal in some countries, but it's all that we have."

AJ nodded, "I know. I'd just hate for this to backfire, and the kids get punished for talking to me."

"Psh, nothing will happen to those two. What we need to do now though, is get in there and earn their trust, so they'll want you around more."

Agreeing, AJ took the final sip of her wine, and headed to the living room. Xavier and Charlotte were glued to the television screen, their empty plates between them. Sitting next to Charlotte, AJ felt herself tense up a little bit, how do you start a conversation with a 4-year-old?

"Have you ever like liked somebody?"

"Excuse me?"

"Like in this show." Charlotte pointed to the flat screen, "She's a mermaid in love with a human, so she has to make a choice about staying in the ocean with her dad or turning into a human forever and ever. Have you ever liked someone like that?"

Suddenly her palms were sweaty, she definitely wasn't expecting this, "I – um, well…"

"It's an easy question."

"Xavier don't be a meanie!" Charlotte exclaimed, "Go on Miss AJ, it's okay."

AJ nodded, "Well, yeah, actually. But I didn't make the right choice, I left and never came back."

"Oh… maybe you can still find him!"

"Maybe… but he's far away right now."

"Like our Uncle Phil?"

"Hm?" she looked over at Xavier, rather shocked that he was even paying attention to their conversation still.

"Uncle Phil. We were littler when he left, mom says that he went on a adventure and we have to find him."

"Well." The blonde girl said, "Maybe when you find him, Uncle Phil will come back too. I sure do miss him a lot, he used to read me stories!"

The hurt was clearly written in Charlotte's bright brown eyes, even Xavier looked a little down. She had never actually thought about how much she had hurt the kids, when she made her decision all those years ago. Since they hadn't been born when she left, she never really crossed her mind. How could she have been so… cruel?

Before she could respond, Emma walked into the living room, "Okay, so your parents are on their way. They're like five minutes down the road, so we gotta go!"

The two kids ran off, with only Charlotte coming back to hug her. Emma did the same, then muttered something about texting her later. Once everyone was gone, she shut the lights off and sat on her couch. Tonight had actually been a pretty good one.

Sighing, she turned off her TV in time to hear a vehicle pull in across the street. As she trudged up her stairs, the looks in the kid's eyes as they talked about Phil stayed in her mind. She knew what she had to do when she showed up here a week ago, she needed to get Phil back.

Only now, she wasn't only going to do it for her sake anymore.

* * *

**a/n: **There you have it! What did y'all think? How will AJ even begin to get Phil back to Andrus? Will the kids really be of any help? Let me know your thoughts! Also, there will be a picture of the model I chose for Charlotte, just in case you're wanting a visual. Thank y'all! Hopefully y'all won't have to wait too long for an update now that summer is upon us!

Oh! And you'll probably notice that when the kids are talking, it doesn't seem grammatically correct, that's because they're four and I wanted that to show in their language development.


	11. Chapter 11

**a/n: **Here's chapter 11! It's bit short, but it's more of a filler chapter than anything else. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**CHAPTER 11  
**_things to think about_

* * *

"Thanks for helping my mom out, bud."

"Eh, it's no problem, the storm really hit the house hard."

Nodding his response, Seth took the trash bag that Phil handed him. The two had been at the Rollins residence for most of the day, their house had really taken a beating at the hands of the hurricane last night. Thankfully, Phil's place didn't get hit too badly, just a couple broken windows; which his landlord was going to take care of in the coming week.

"So how was your little vacation?"

Seth shrugged, "It was alright, the usual crap my family does. It was really relaxing though, which was nice."

"Sweet. I can't wait for my vacation to come up."

"Mhm…"

"Don't even say it."

"Why?" he questioned, "Because you know I'm right, don't you?"

Phil shook his head, "No, actually you're quite wrong. They don't want to see me."

"You're wrong." His friend argued, throwing the trash bag down, "they're your family! You have a niece and nephew that miss you, and I know that you miss them too. They don't deserve to be treated like this."

"You know why I can't go back there."

"So, you're really going to let _her _keep you away from them?"

Phil sighed, "Don't say it like that."

"I'm just calling it like it is." Seth replied, "Besides… going back there should be part of your getting over her process. It's actually pretty crucial."

Opening a can of soda, Phil leaned against a vehicle. He knew that Seth was just looking out for him, he just didn't think that he really understood the entire situation. The entire town of Andrus was filled with memories of him and AJ. It was just too much for him to handle, even after all these years.

"Look, I don't want to be harsh… but this isn't fair to them" Seth said, joining him, "What's a couple days with your family anyway? Hell, I'll go with you if it'll help you any. They'll see that you're alive and well… then we can come back home and get back to our normal lives."

Phil shrugged, "I don't know, man."

"Boys! Come in for some lunch!"

"Coming, ma!" as they walked towards the house, Seth patted him on the shoulder, "Look, you still have some time before your vacay… no need to make a decision today."

"Alright, alright… I'll give it some thought, okay?"

"Deal."

* * *

Randy sat behind the counter at the shop, crunching some numbers. Thankfully, the storm didn't really get to the shop, everything but the electricity was up; so they were still forced to shut down for the day. The girls were at home cleaning up, so he brought the kids with him, so they wouldn't be in the way. For the moment, they were occupied with a board game.

To say that he was stressed about the numbers he was seeing, was a bit of an understatement. They had their bills taken care of, so at least they didn't have to worry about that. But there was no telling how much longer they could keep going on like this.

"Dad! Charlotte keeps cheating!"

"Liar! You just aren't good like me!"

"Kids! Can you just… just get along, please?"

After a while, the two calmed down enough to start playing again. Randy welcomed the silence, as he once again went back to his work. They would have to manage to get at least 30 customers in this month, to be able to be comfortable, that even if they did their regular pricing. Sure, it was summer, but they were still rather slow. They needed Phil back desperately, he was the mastermind behind all of their specials and promotions. He was essentially the reason they were even able to be successful in the first place.

"Uncle Randy!"

"What!" Looking up, he met the brown-eyed gaze of his niece.

"I'm bored."

Rubbing his eyes, Randy leaned back in his chair, "I know, sweetie. I'm almost done okay?"

"Fine." She pouted.

Sighing, he went back to his paperwork. He was able to get some of it done, before he felt eyes on him once again, "What is it, Charlotte?"

"After…" she ran over and plopped on his lap, "After when you're done, can we go to my new friend's house?"

"Who would that be?"

"You know…" she replied excitedly, "the one by the water! I went yesterday."

"To Emma's? She's busy today, babe, maybe tomorrow."

"Nooooooo!"

"No? Then who?"

"She lives in the princess castle! I was there… so was Xavier and Emma."

"You don't remember her name?" a bit disappointed in herself, Charlotte shook her head. When it looked like she was about to cry; he called his son over.

"X… whose house were you at last night?"

"Oh, Miss AJ! She's our new friend… but we _cannot _tell mom or Auntie Violet, Emma said."

"Is that so?" Randy nodded, before putting Charlotte on the ground, "You know what? I'm done here… why don't we go pay Emma a little visit? She has some explaining to do."

* * *

**a/n: **Told ya it was short! But I do hope that you still liked it. J Let me know what y'all think! Ooooh, Emma is going to be in some trouble! ;)


	12. Chapter 12

**a/n: **I'm so very thankful that I've been able to write as much as I have! I know that I've probably said this a million times, but I owe that all to Danie! We've been helping each other out with other ideas, which has helped me get to writing this! So thank you! Here is to chapter 12!

* * *

**CHAPTER 12  
**_touching a nerve_

* * *

"I just don't see what the big deal is."

"The big deal?! It's…"

Emma sighed, "Our lights were out, and hers weren't. Common sense, Randal."

Leaning against a counter, Randy scratched the back of his head, "We have a history with her, it's not – _wait_, if that's the only reason you guys went over, why did you tell the kids not to tell the girls?"

Emma shrugged, "You didn't seem like you were a big fan of hers, so I figured that they weren't either."

"Good point."

Hopping up on her stainless steel island, Emma shot a look over at her guest. Obviously she knew why they wouldn't like them hanging around AJ, but it was even more obvious that Randy didn't know that. It wouldn't hurt to try and play both sides of this game, she'd just have to be smart about it.

"So what is it about this girl, huh? What has you so… afraid?"

"Whoa… hold on there, sister. I am _not _afraid of her."

"Well, every time she gets brought up, you go all… _'Oh no, not her… boo AJ… I'm not done with you'."_

He scoffed, "I do not sound like that!" after a moment of silence, he sighed, "She's essentially the reason that Phil left. She broke his heart."

"Did you ever think that maybe she's back to fix that?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"Oh wow, real mature Randal." She hopped off the counter and walked towards him, "All I'm saying is that maybe she's here for a reason. She could be the link to getting him back."

"Sure… if Violet and Ashley let her anywhere near him."

"Well," she stated, with hands on his shoulders, "that's what you're for. Help her back in, for the sake of the family."

Randy shook his head, "You know that I can't do that, it'd be the ultimate betrayal in their eyes."

Shrugging, Emma turned on her heels, "Hmm, fine. Never be whole again, lose your business, run back to mommy and daddy."

"Hey!" in an instant, Emma felt a grip on her arm; and her body being pressed up against the wall. Randy's face was mere inches from hers, they had a venom in them, something she had never seen from him before, "You…" for a while they stood like that, Emma heart rate picking up considerably, her palms sweating, ""Goddammit!" releasing her from his grip, he leaned against the wall next to her, "You're right."

"I know." Emma sighed and rested her hand on his shoulder, "Come on, let's do this! It'll take some convincing of Vi and Ash, but I think that they'll see that this is for the greater good. For Phil."

Staying quiet for a while, he finally spoke again, "For Phil."

* * *

AJ had just finished an afternoon workout when she received a text message from Emma.

**"PHASE ONE OF OPERATION GET PHIL BACK IS COMPLETE. WE'RE GOING TO SET UP A TOP SECRET MEETUP SOON."**

Smiling, AJ texted her back, stating that she was looking forward to it. In all honesty, she was surprised that it worked, the thought had kept her up most of the night. The storm had finally passed in the early morning, most of her outside furniture had been torn to pieces; so that's what she spent her morning doing. Emma's house was untouched, except for some trash being thrown about, nothing too serious.

Walking up to her bedroom, she began to undress herself, a shower was most definitely needed at this point. Letting the warm water run over her, she breathed a sigh of relief, all the tension in her muscles felt like it was getting lifted; or at least soothed a bit.

* * *

_"Let me get some lotion on your back, silly! Before you go around looking like a lobster."_

_"Oh, fine."_

_Jokingly throwing a bottle of suntan lotion, AJ sat in between Phil's legs and held her hair in her hands. She smiled a bit as his rough hands massaged her back. While the girls had opted to go into town to get things for the night's party, she had called Phil over for a beach day. They only had a handful of days left together. _

_"All done!" _

_"Good." She turned, kneeling in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Has anyone ever told you that you're gorgeous?"_

_"Mmm… my mom told me once, I think that I was three. Oh! Then there is that one girl from yesterday…"_

_"Phil Brooks!"_

_"Oh, I kid…" he said, kissing her passionately, "Nope… only you. And you're the only one that matters."_

_Smiling, she leaned him back and crawled on top of him. She lost herself for a while in his deep green eyes, god he was perfect. Resting her head on his chest, she listened to the steady beat of his heart. Chills ran up her spine as he traced his fingers up and down her arm._

_"So Miss Lee… what are we going to do about us?"_

_Suddenly her heart rate picked up a little bit, "I really done know… I just kind of wanted to enjoy the days we had, you know? I don't want to have to worry about that right now, okay?"_

_The two stayed silent for a while, with just the waves to be heard, "But, we are going to talk about it, right?"_

_Lifting her head, she leaned in for a kiss, "Of course, I'd never do that to you."_

* * *

Low and behold, she did do that to him. She left him handing when he didn't deserve to be treated like that. Now he was gone, he deserted his family, for all they knew he wasn't even in the country anymore. She hoped that wasn't true, of course.

Stepping out of the shower, she quickly slipped into her cotton robe hanging nearby. Rubbing the fog off of the mirror, she stared at herself for a while. Her hair stuck to her face as she watched the water trail down her cheek.

"You are going to get him back, April Jeanette Lee. For them, for you, for _Phil_."

* * *

**a/n: **There you have it! As you can probably guess, we are getting close to everyone touching base with each other. I just haven't decided how I'm going to do that yet! Oh, and the italics were a flashback to four summers ago. Thank y'all for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

**a/n: **Here we are again! Enjoy this chapter, I had so much fun writing it! Please let me know what you think!

* * *

**CHAPTER 13  
**_back there again_

* * *

He had made up his mind.

For the past few weeks he had been contemplating going to Andrus. Everything Seth had told him, it had stayed with him longer than he'd like to admit. At the end of the day, he knew that what he was saying was all absolutely true. It wasn't fair what he was doing to the family he had left behind.

They all crossed his mind at some point during the day. Randy, he was still someone that he considered his best friend – even more so than Seth. He had been there since he lost Alyssa nearly 8 years ago, the guy had really pulled him up from the gutters. Why didn't he give him the opportunity to do that this time?

Ashley, where could he even begin with her? She was his rock, the only piece of Alyssa he actually had. She had really pushed him to be at his best again. He needed that so badly, now.

Then there was his sister, Violet. She leaned on him so much, they were all each other really had. He had promised to be the father figure that Charlotte needed, then he just abandoned her like it was nothing. What if she never forgave him? Were they even still in Andrus?

With all that on his mind, he packed a duffel bag, gassed up his _Jeep_, and headed west for 5 hours. Seth agreed to take his weekend shifts, he knew that if he didn't go now; by the time his vacation came, he would've lost his nerve. He just hoped that things went as smoothly as he had planned out in his mind.

**=0oo0=**

It was pouring rain, he'd been sitting out on the porch for who knows how long.

His trip didn't go as planned, sure, he got to Andrus without a problem. He drove up and down familiar roads, resisting the urges to stop at some. He didn't want to risk being seen before he was ready to face everyone. The place was still as beautiful as he remembered, nothing had really changed.

Soon, he found himself going down a familiar street. _Jones Avenue_, was a street he came down multiple times over the years, it was the street that took him to his second home; _Tattoos and Angels_. Parking across the street, he took a deep breath and looked over at the building. For it being midday, it was odd for it to be closed. This was usually the busiest time of the day.

After a while, he pulled back onto the road and headed to another place that he knew all too well. _Chesnutt Avenue_, the place where his entire life had existed. It took him about 20 minutes to get there, the traffic was something he definitely did not miss. Eventually though, he pulled into the quiet suburb, and headed towards his old home.

Parking a couple houses down, he watched the houses intently. A smile came to his face when he saw Ashley and Violet getting the kids into their booster seats in the back of the vehicle. Randy stood on the front porch, waving as the two girls pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street. He was just about to put his _Jeep _into gear and head to the house, he figured that Randy wouldn't try to kill him for abandoning them. Then he saw a yellow _Camaro _pull into the driveway, a blonde came out of the passenger seat.

The blood that began to boil, it soon cooled, when he saw who got out of the driver's seat.

"Phil, what the hell!" he was numb, he could hardly feel the raindrops hitting his face. Looking up, he met the dark eyes of his best friend.

"Dude! Hello!" he snapped his fingers in front of his face, "Aren't you supposed to be in Andrus? Phil!"

"She's there."

"What? Who?"

He stood, getting on eye level with his friend, "_Her_. I – I saw her, she's so… I can't go back there anymore."

Seth sighed and ran his fingers through his now soaking wet hair, "Are you sure it was her?"

Phil rolled his eyes, "of course I'm sure! I could never mistake someone else for her."

His friend nodded, "Alright… so what are you going to do?"

They stood in silence for some time, the sound of the thunder rolling was all that could be heard for a while, "I don't know, man. I was so prepared to see them, to face my family again, but her? I just – I can't see her."

Crossing his arms, Seth nodded, he hated seeing Phil like this… "Where did you see her at?"

"At Randy's… what the hell was she doing there, man? Doesn't she know that's my family?! She can't do what she did to me, and then think that she can just waltz back into their lives like nothing ever happened."

"Maybe she's trying to find you?"

His head shot up then, "Why would she be doing that? She _abandoned _me, Seth, she didn't have to do that! If she had just stayed, or at least kept in contact; she wouldn't have to look! I would have been right there waiting for her, I could have been holding her in my arms right now, but she took that away from me!"

"Whoa, hold on man." Seth sighed once more, "You do realize that you could be telling her all of this right now? You should have stayed!"

"My emotions would have gotten the best of me, I – I wouldn't be able to talk to her like this."

Sitting down, Seth watched as Phil paced back and forth on the sidewalk. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be that close to someone he used to love, to have all those emotions come flooding back to him all at once. Not being able to do anything about it, that had to be a hard pill to swallow. But he couldn't shake the feeling that this AJ woman was trying to rebuild some bridges, she just didn't know where to begin. He knew that it was his idea to have them both forget about the women that had done them wrong, but it was obvious that it was a lot harder for Phil than it was for him.

He wasn't quite sure how yet, but he knew that it was up to him to fix this.

* * *

**a/n: **So there we have it! What did y'all think about Phil heading back home, do you think that he should've stopped? What does Seth have up his sleeve? Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	14. Chapter 14

**a/n: **What's going to happen now that Phil knows AJ is back? Chapter 14 will let you know! =)

* * *

**CHAPTER 14  
**_game on_

* * *

They had two months now. Two months to figure out a way to keep their business afloat, or be forced to uproot and move back to St. Louis. They had tried everything under the sun to bring in more customers, but nothing seemed to work. He was down to his last option…

Telling Ashley was he'd been up to for the last month. He needed everyone on board on this one, the business was riding on it.

Sure, she couldn't kill him, but she could certainly beat him within an inch of his life. Talking to AJ was the ultimate betrayal, he knew it. But, she was the only way to bring Phil back… having him back was the only real way that they could possibly save the tattoo shop. Ashley just had to realize that, it was for the greater good.

A couple days ago, he decided that today would be the day that he told her and Violet. Emma had taken them out for ice cream, which gave him the appropriate amount of time to ready himself for the war that would surely happen. Thankfully, Emma agreed to stay when he told them. Hopefully an unbiased opinion would be helpful.

Hearing doors close, he walked over to the front window and saw the three women getting out of Emma's car. The kids followed close behind, still going to town on their ice cream. Once they got inside, Ashley greeted him with a kiss, Violet with a hug, Emma with a high five. The kids ran upstairs to Xavier's room as soon as they set foot inside the house.

Following the girls into the dining room, he sat next to his girlfriend, "So, how was the ice cream?"

"It was amazing! So many toppings, we'll have to take you next time."

It was quiet for a while, the girls messed with their phones. Well, except for Emma, who was staring him down from across the table.

**Don't be such a wuss! Remember we told AJ to come over in like 30 minutes!**

Sighing, Randy set his phone down and turned to face Ashley, "So, honey…"

"Oh God, what did you do?"

He laughed nervously, "Wh-what? Why do you ask that?"

"Because every time, you start a sentence like that, it means that you've done something; and now you need to ask for forgiveness."

Damn, she was good.

"Well, alright then," he sighed once more, "I know that you're going to be mad, and I apologize for what I'm about to say."

"Damnit, Randy, what is it? It can't really be that bad…"

"I've been talking to AJ for the past month. She's back in Andrus."

* * *

"Yeah… I just got it in the mail. Thank you so much, Nat!"

"You're very welcome… although I'm a bit sad that the only time you've called me since school ended, is for me to essentially waste tax payer dollars on a journey of lost love."

The brunette sighed, she hadn't exactly kept contact with Natalya like she had promised to. Although, neither did the blonde on the other end; but she had some pretty good reasons for doing so. Being a Chicago cop was probably a grueling career, especially with her being a rookie.

"I know… I'm so sorry about that! I didn't realize how much time this was actually going to take. How have you been?"

The blonde laughed, "Oh, it's okay! You know that I still love you. Things have actually been going pretty well for me, there are detectives on the top floor that I get to work with sometimes, they're so great! I hang out with the girl up there from time to time… oh and then there's a certain detective that is just too gorgeous for his own good!"

AJ laughed, "Ooooh, you'll have to send me some pictures! Does he talk much to you?"

"Eh, from time to time. It's Chicago… these guys are always running out of the door, either finishing up a case or starting on a new one."

Nodding, AJ say on her couch, "Aw shucks, well hopefully soon? It wouldn't hurt to go out for a couple drinks would it?"

"Actually… the squad is going out tonight, there's a bar we frequent, maybe he'll be there. Becky will be there, so at least I won't be hanging out by myself."

"Well that's good, this guy would be crazy to not be interested in you."

"That is true! Haha, well, I have to get ready for my shift… text me later?"

"Sure thing, thank you again, Nattie."

* * *

An eerie silence filled the room then, Ashley could barely ever look him in the eye. Violet, on the other hand, gave him the most darkest of stares from across the table. He didn't really know what to say anymore, he knew that he had crossed the line; there was possibly no going back. Emma, poor Emma, she sat fiddling her fingers… she didn't quite realize what she'd gotten herself into.

"Are…"

"Don't speak."

He hung his head, he had really done it this time.

Let me get this perfectly straight… you've been talking to the woman who got us into this mess in the first place? And behind my back? Really?! Has she been in my house?!"

"She's trying to fix it, Ashley."

"Has she been in my house, Randy?!"

"Yes, she's been in _our _house." He could feel his short fuse begin to light.

"What good is she to us now? She should have come back 4 years ago! In fact, she should have never left!"

"You know why she had to!"

Ashley shook her head, "It still doesn't excuse what she did."

"Maybe not, but she's here now… she's our only shot at getting him back home."

"What makes you think that he wants to anyway? He would have been here by now."

He shrugged, "You're right… maybe he doesn't want to. But if we can find that he's okay at least, won't it be worth it?"

Silence filled the room once again, he could tell just by the look in her eyes that she still wasn't budging. Ashley was definitely the stubborn one of the two, it was a miracle to get through anything with her. He shot a look over to Violet, her demeanor had changed considerably, she didn't seem angry anymore. Maybe he _was _getting through to someone.

"Violet?"

Her brown eyes met his blue ones, "Do you really think that she'll be able to find him, when his own sister couldn't?"

"I do. She's very capable," he turned to look at Ashley once more, "I wouldn't be wasting my time, if I thought otherwise."

"Okay."

"Vi, you can't be serious!"

"He's my brother, Ashley. If she's how I'm going to get him back, then so be it."

**ONE HOUR LATER**

Ashley had kicked everyone out when she found out that AJ would be coming over. So an hour later, they found themselves next door with AJ joining them. Initially, it was a bit awkward. Violet hadn't seen her in over 4 years, so it took some time for everyone to be comfortable with each other.

"So, have you got any leads?" the Australian of the group asked.

"Actually, yeah!" the group perked up, "My friend Natalya, she's a cop in Chicago. She ran some info on him and found that he bought a new _Jeep _about 2 years ago. Unfortunately, he paid in full with cash, so there's no paper trail."

"What is that supposed to do for us then?"

"Well…" AJ stated, pulling out some papers from a folder, "He had to put an address down, _2905 Roscoe Avenue _in Daye, Georgia, is where he had been staying. It's a starting point at least."

Violet grabbed the paper and quickly scanned over it, "Alright, so what are we waiting for? Let's go check it out!"

"We can't."

"Why the fuck not?!"

"Because," AJ sighed, "Nat looked into it, the place burned down about a year or so ago. Nothing ever got rebuilt."

Violet sighed and got up from the table, "So this whole thing is basically pointless?"

"Not exactly. I'm heading to Daye within the next couple of days." AJ then got up and walked over to Violet, putting her hands on her shoulders, "I'm going to find him, Violet, and I'm going to bring him home."

* * *

**a/n: **There we have it! What did y'all think of the chapter… a lot of interesting stuff is starting to go down! Will Ashley ever come around to AJ? Remember that reviews make me happy. =) love y'all!


	15. Chapter 15

**a/n: **Here's to another chapter! This chapter will be mostly from Seth's POV, with a small bit of AJ; please enjoy!

* * *

**CHAPTER 15  
**_uh-oh_

* * *

He didn't sleep very much that night, or the next. How he managed to stay awake for two morning shifts was a miracle in itself. Although, he could thank _Monster _for the bit of energy he could muster up. He was doing a double today, thankfully, a manager decided to let him go home for at least an hour or so.

Instead of trying to get some sleep, he found himself at his mom's house. Phil had stayed the past couple of nights at his place… the guy had a horrible attitude, so he thought it best not to see him until he absolutely had to. Stretched out on the sofa, he stared blankly at _Modern Family _playing on the screen. Thankfully, no one else was there, so he could finally, enjoy some peace and quiet.

His mind had been mulling over the events of the past few days quite often. It was a lot for Phil to take in, which meant that he'd have to try and keep him in line. He didn't know how much power AJ still had over him, but it seemed to be a lot. Seeing AJ was definitely a curve ball no one saw coming, Phil certainly wasn't prepared for it. Sure, it was easy enough for him to get over Leslie... even if the girl did come back to town, he knew that they were done; there was nothing new to add to their story.

Apparently, Phil and AJ were going to be a bit more complicated than that.

He'd had to find a way to fix it, that's what best friends were for. How exactly was he supposed to do that, though? Phil wasn't exactly an open book when it came to his past. Hell, he'd barely found out that Lee was her last name a couple months ago. Up until then they'd only been on a first name basis – or occasionally a 'her' basis.

He did know that he could probably start by heading to Andrus himself. With his luck, Phil would find out and probably go apeshit on him. Not exactly something he wanted to be a part of anytime soon. The girl didn't have any social media accounts, nor could he find anyone else in his family. Everything was always so difficult with him.

Checking the time on his phone, he sighed; that hour sure went by quickly. Grabbing his keys, he headed out the door… the Troubling Times of PunkLee would just have to wait for another time.

* * *

Her trip had taken longer than she had wanted it to. She'd taken the wrong exits multiple times, only to find that if she'd stayed on the road heading out of Andrus, it would have been a straight shot to Daye. Thankfully, by the time she got there, her frustration had toned down… now she was just tired. Instead of heading for the _Motel 6 _though, she headed for the last place she knew Phil had lived at.

The land was bare, grass was growing back in small batches, but for the most part it had all been dry. Poor Phil, he really hadn't had the best of luck the past few years.

"All thanks to you, you jerk."

Sighing, she did a roundabout, and headed back into the direction she had come in. There was a convenience store just ahead, she just needed to grab some food to get her through until tomorrow; and then she'd call it a night. Tomorrow would certainly be a long day.

* * *

He really hated Sunday nights. They were always so slow, he'd only had a couple customers since he'd come back from his break. A couple months ago, they finally got with the times and installed card readers at the pumps outside, so since then no one really came inside to pay. That took away a good bulk of his busy work, since only the older generation really came in to pay cash.

He had been texting Phil for the past two hours, the guy never replied to anything he sent. So to keep his mind off of being bored, he'd straighten things out, go outside for a smoke, or just play some games on his phone. _Clash of Clans _could only keep him occupied for so long though. So when the bell went off, signaling that he had a customer, he almost fell off of his seat.

She was a petite brunette, black _Converse _adorned her feet. Skinny jeans and a bright green top completed her outfit. Looking out of the window, he saw that she was driving a yellow _Camaro_; probably payed for by her daddy. He didn't get a good look at her face, but from what he did see, she was rather pretty.

"We have small baskets up here, if that gets to be too much for you to carry."

The girl offered a small smile, "Thanks, I just need to grab one more thing though."

Nodding, he went back to messing with his phone. He didn't pay much attention to the girl, until she started to place her things on the counter.

"Someone's hungry." He said, inwardly cursing himself for saying the one phrase he himself hated to hear.

She laughed nervously, "Yeah… I didn't see any open restaurants, so this'll have to do."

He nodded as he began to scan her items, "Yeah, that's Daye for ya. We only have family-owned restaurants, and they close on Sundays."

"That's what I figured."

"You just passing through? I've never seen you around before." He sighed, "Sorry for being so chatty, it's been a slow night."

"No, it's okay," she replied, "I'm actually just passing through… well, I'm staying for a couple days, but that's it."

"Well, our downtown is great… if you like shopping. I have a sister that owns a boutique, I'm sure that she'd like to show you around. If you'd like."

"Yeah, that sounds wonderful, I'd like that a lot. What's her name?"

"Sara… trust me, you'll know when you've found her… the name of the place is _Rollins Stones_. I'll tell her to keep an eye out for you, though." He smiled as he rung up the last of her items, "Okay, that'll be $24.39"

"Oh… can I get a box of smokes?"

"Uh, sure. You don't look like a smoker though…" he said as he walked over to the cigarette aisle to get the ones she'd pointed at.

She sighed, "I used to not, it's a bad habit I picked up in college."

"Hey, I don't need any explanation. I'm trying to kick the habit myself," he smiled, "I'll need to see your ID though."

"Sure thing."

While she dug in her wallet, he couldn't help but admire her looks. He really hoped that she went to see Sara sometime while she was here, he wouldn't mind seeing her again. When her arm stretched out towards him, he grabbed the small card she had in it. When his eyes landed on her name, he swore that his heart stopped beating. This couldn't really be happening, could it?

"Is there a problem?"

"Hm? Oh, no! No, it just took me a while to find the DOB, they're always in different places." He smiled nervously and handed it back to her, "That evens you out at $30."

"Sweet." She ran her card and busied herself with the questions that came up on the screen.

"Approved! Alright… you have a good one. Enjoy your stay in Daye."

She smiled and grabbed her bags. He watched her as she got into her car, then sped off into the night. His heart felt like it wanted to jump out of his chest, this… it couldn't be real.

AJ Lee was in Daye, Georgia… and he had no idea what to do next. He just knew that he had to figure something out, before Phil saw her.

* * *

**a/n: **There we have it! So, AJ is finally in the same zip code as Phil! What is Seth going to do about it? Yes, _Rollins Stones_, is a play-on-words of _Rolling Stones._


	16. Chapter 16

**a/n: **I hope that y'all liked the updates I posted a couple weeks ago! In this chapter we'll meet a new character!

* * *

**CHAPTER 16  
**_little sister_

* * *

Once 6AM rolled around, Seth found himself heading towards the downtown area of Daye. His body was begging him to get some rest, but he figured that he'd get sleep during the next couple of days he had off. Besides, he had to get to Sara to fill her in on what happened last night. He wasn't quite sure if AJ would go by, but just in case she did; he knew that his sister would like a heads up.

Pulling his 1950s era _Chevrolet_ parallel to his sister's shop, he shifted into park, turned his vehicle off and stepped out. Using a spare key, he opened up the front door and stepped quietly into the dimly lit shop.

"Sara, you here sis?"

"I'm in the back!"

Clutching a brown paper bag and drink holder, he headed to the back room. Walking through the curtain, he smiled when he finally set eyes on her. Her normally loose hair was tied up in a tight bun; she was concentrating on a t-shirt she had in the sewing machine. When she finally finished, he smiled and lifted up the items in his hands.

"I brought breakfast."

"Ah, my knight in shining armor!"

"Always."

Following her to the small table in the back of the room, he placed the items down and pulled Sara's seat out. Once she was seated, he sat across from her and started to pull things out of the bag.

"I've missed this." The younger of the two stated.

"Me too, it's been too long."

For a while, the two sat in silence, each eating away at the food he had brought. It felt like he hadn't eaten in days, the weekend had pretty much meshed together by this point. He'd pretty much ran out of the door when his relief came him. God, he was exhausted.

"So, how's everything? Mom said that you were working a double this weekend?"

"Ugh, don't remind me…" he shivered, "but yeah, I'm surprised that I'm still alive."

"I don't know why you do this to yourself, you can…"

"Be doing so much better, I know."

"Well then, what the hell?" she scoffed, "Mom is in remission, so you can't use her cancer as an excuse anymore."

Seth sighed, it was true, he had been using his moms' illness as a reason to stick close to home. When she got better though, he still kept on with the store; ultimately using Phil now as his excuse. He knew that it was foolish but the guy was at such a vulnerable state all the time, he really couldn't bring himself to just up and leave. Lord knew that he'd had enough of that happening to him.

"Oh god, please don't tell me that you're staying because of Punk!"

Sara had known of Phil since he had moved to Daye. She couldn't thank him enough for filling in for her brother, so that he could see her graduate from high school four years ago. The two actually hit it off pretty well, she had actually crushed on him for a while, but she knew where his heart was.

"You make it sound like it's a horrible decision."

"Ugh," she sighed, "Morally? No… but come one! He's a grown man Seth, he'll be fine. He has to know that there is so much more out there for you!"

Seth shrugged, "I know… I know. I just can't! I'm all he's got, Sara."

For a few moments they sat in silence, his sisters' blue eyes locked on his brown ones. He knew that she was right, he didn't bust his ass in college to work forever as a cashier at a convenience store; but that's just how his life was playing out at the moment. Phil was his best friend, he'd had his back for the past 3 years, there just wasn't a nice way to back out of that friendship. Not that he could think of at the moment, anyway.

"Damn you and your good heart." She joked, resting her chin on her palm.

Laughing, he flung a paper towel at her. He absolutely loved the relationship he had with his only sibling. They were 3 years apart from each other, from the moment she was born, they were inseparable. She was the only girl he knew that would tell it like it is all the time. There was no sugarcoating when it came to her.

"Hey, I have to ask you for a favor."

"Sure."

This is where things would get tricky.

"Well, you know that girl that Phil is all hung up on?"

"AJ?"

"Yeah."

She nodded, "What about her?"

"Well… she's sorta here."

"Here? Like in the shop?"

He shook his head, "No, like in Daye."

Scrunching her brows together, she shot him a questioning look, "How do you know? And what does this have to do with me?"

"I saw her…" he sighed, "she went into the store late last night, and we struck up a conversation. Hell, I even think that I flirted with her."

"You _what_?"

"Whoa, calm down, tiger…" he put his hands up in defense, "I didn't know it was her until I ID'd her for some cigarettes. She said that she's only here for a couple days."

"Mhm… again, I ask, what does this have to do with me?"

"Well… I kind of need you to keep her occupied, while I figure out a way to tell Phil."

Sara raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean, 'keep her occupied'? She doesn't even know me! Am I just supposed to randomly find her and say, 'hey girl I've never met before, lets hang out! I promise that I'm not some crazy serial killer'?!"

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Not exactly… before I knew who she was, I told her that I had a sister who owned a business down here; and that maybe you'd show her around."

"And if she doesn't come?"

"I don't know… I didn't think of that, I'm holding on to a prayer that she will."

Silence filled the room, he could tell that she was actually thinking about what he'd said.

"Fine." She finally answered, "But you'll have to do something for _me_."

"Anything."

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, "Once you finish whatever it is you have up your sleeve, you apply to some jobs and get your bad dye-job self a job that'll put your degree to good use."

He contemplated her offer for a bit, "Bad dye-job? You're the one that did it!" he playfully rolled his eyes when she laughed, "Alright, you've got yourself a deal."

* * *

**a/n: **So, what did you guys think? I hope that y'all enjoy the addition of Sara, we'll be seeing quite a bit of her for a while. How successful do you think she'll be in keeping AJ occupied? If she shows up that is.

Visuals for Sara and Seth's truck will be posted on my Twitter! Thank y'all!


	17. Chapter 17

**a/n: **So, I know that it's been a while! Believe me, I've missed updating this story so much, but due to my forgetfulness; I left my laptop at my aunt's house for the past few weeks, so while the chapters were ready, they weren't typed until now! I do hope that you've enjoyed this story enough to still be around for these updates.

* * *

**CHAPTER 17  
**_here we go_

* * *

Shouldn't she have called by now?

Tossing her phone on her bed, Violet ran her fingers through her strawberry blonde hair. She knew that AJ had arrived in Daye, via text late last night, but no more from her. Sure, she knew that technically the girl had only been there a few hours; she was just antsy. She was so close to having her brother back; she just wanted it to be over already.

Charlotte asked for him often, the two had a great relationship for the year he was around. Thankfully, she had boat loads of pictures to look back on. Uncle Phil was never too far from her little heart.

Sighing, she reached for her phone once again. Charlotte would be up in a few minutes, the day was to be filled with a pool day, along with a couple friends from her pre-school. Unfortunately, Xavier hadn't been feeling too good the past couple of days, so he'd have to miss out this go around. Starting her Keurig, she glanced over at the neighbors' house. Randy was outside working on some stuff; hopefully Ashley wasn't being too hard on him still.

"Mommy!"

Putting a smile on her face, she turned to face her 4-year-old; she would make today a good day, just for her.

* * *

Between trying to track Phil down, eating and flipping through television channels, she hadn't slept a wink last night.

This was going to be a lot harder than she had originally thought. If there was one thing Phil knew how to do, it was lay low. Natalya hadn't found anymore traces of him around, if he had a job, he wasn't being paid directly to his bank. The last time he had used his credit card was nearly four years ago, when he decided to leave Andrus for good. The guy had virtually disappeared.

Why did he have to be so complicated?

* * *

Slammed his front door, he sighed. Phil's vehicle wasn't in his driveway, so he assumed that he had actually gone to work. Or at least went back to his own apartment. At least he would have some time to himself for the first time in a while. Grabbing a _Coke Zero _from his fridge, he went to his bedroom and plopped down on his bed. There hadn't been a time where he felt anymore exhausted than he was at this moment. Yet, he knew that he wouldn't be falling asleep until later on tonight; it's just how his body was wired. So, today would be an incredibly long one.

The ride to his place had him thinking about everything his sister had said. Sure, all of that had crossed his mind from time to time, but none of it ever really stuck. He just always felt that he'd be letting Phil down if he ever left. The guy had begun to depend on him for a lot of things. He just couldn't imagine how Phil would react if he ever left.

Offers had continued to come in for him to put his degree to use. They were either too far from his family, or they just weren't interesting enough. Now that he had made a promise to Sara, he knew that he had to get a bit more serious about his future.

Life was about to get a little more interesting.

The past couple of days had been pretty rough for him.

Initially, he knew that this whole situation would have negative side effects, he had just hoped that it wouldn't last more than 24-hours; boy was he wrong. Ashley refused to talk to him, and when she did, she usually just yelled. She had even lost her cool with Xavier a couple times, which was completely unnecessary. Needless to say, he and his son had been bunking together for the past couple of nights.

Because of that, he had a lot of pent up tension – since he couldn't take care of that how he usually would, he decided to come outside and hammer some things. The sun had risen only a few minutes before he stepped outside, but he was already dripping with sweat. Fall weather couldn't get here fast enough. Hearing a door open, he looked up to see the woman who had been on his mind for the past few minutes. Her blonde hair in a loose bun, an oversized t-shirt of his over her body.

Deciding to play the silent treatment game she had been playing on him, he turned his attention back to his work. Soon enough, she was right next to him. When he still paid her no attention, she grabbed the hammer out of his hand and threw it on the ground next to her.

"We need to talk."

"Oh, is it time for my daily scolding already?"

"Whatever." She scoffed, "We need to talk about Xavier."

"Our son has been sick for the past two days, what could he have possibly done?"

"He asked for… _her_." She sighed, "He said that she's his new friend, and he wants to see her again."

"Who's her?"

"You know damn well who I'm talking about Randal Keith Orton."

"Ooh, the whole name game… who are you, my mother?" when she rolled her eyes at him, he continued, "look, I don't know why you want to waste time talking about it; we both know that you won't let it happen."

"I just don't understand how she pops in whenever she feels like it, and suddenly everyone falls back into her trap."

"Are you kidding me? You think that this was a 'sudden' thing for me?" he rolled his eyes, "I wanted to rip her limb from limb when I first saw her. I had no part in our son becoming friends with her, but you and I both know that she's the only one that can bring him back to us."

Sighing, she sat on the arm of a nearby patio chair, "I'm just weary is all, _she _hurt him, _she's _the reason we're in this situation in the first place."

"Actually that title goes to _you_."

"_Excuse me?!_"

"Who was the one that pulled all the little strings to get them together in the first place? Who wouldn't just let them be? Who had to be cupid in June?"

"That's not fair, sure, if it weren't for me those two wouldn't have gotten together in the first place. But everyone knows exactly why I did it! Besides, it's not like I built a wall to keep her out of Andrus after she left."

"Whatever the case, we are here now, let this play out."

"Ugh, fine." She scoffed, "but if it doesn't work, little AJ is disappearing."

He grinned as he watched her head back inside, when she disappeared, he went back to work on his project. When he heard the doors open again, he looked up to see his girlfriend again, now only clad in some black lingerie. When she motioned for him to come closer, he gladly did just that. Once he was within arm's reach of her, she pulled him in for a passionate kiss.

When they broke, she offered him a devilish grin, "It's been a very long – and frustrating – couple of days, you better have something good for me."

Without a word, he wrapped her legs around his waist and carried her into the nearby laundry room. Locking the door behind them, he pressed her against the wall and began tracing his lips over her body.

Looks like today would be a good day after all.

* * *

Flipping the open sign off, Sara breathed a sigh of relief… the morning had been extremely busy. Lunch time couldn't come fast enough. She had just gotten a huge t-shirt order for a family reunion, when the clock struck noon. The customers weren't even across the street, before she locked the door. Hopefully her afternoon shift would ease up a little bit, so that she could get a head start on her orders.

Just as she was about to open up her lunch box, she heard the telephone start to ring. Rolling her eyes, she decided to let the answering machine pick it up, she usually called back after her lunch break anyway.

"_You've reached Rollins Stones, unfortunately I am unable to reach the phone, please leave message at the beep. Just a quick reminder that the store hours are Monday-Friday, 9 AM – 5 AM, thank you so much for your business! _… Hi, I – um, your brother told me to come by this place. I guess that I'll come by later, bye!"

Jumping up from her seat, she rushed to the front of her boutique, her eyes immediately shot across the street; where she saw a petite brunette getting into a yellow _Camaro_. Knocking on the windows to get her attention, she then motioned for the girl to come back. Whenever she did, she unlocked the door and ushered her inside.

"Hey! I'm Sara Rollins."

"AJ Lee, it's so nice to meet you!"

Leading her to the back room, she smiled, "Same here, sorry about missing your call… I couldn't hear it over the sound of my sewing machine." There's nothing like a little white lie to start off a possible friendship.

"It's no biggie, I was going to come back whenever you opened up again."

Sara nodded, "Not to be rude, but what does Seth want us to accomplish here?"

"I really don't know, he just said that you could show me around?" she shrugged, "I'm only going to be in town for a couple days, I honestly think it's because he likes me or something…"

"Oh, no… I'm guessing that he doesn't give off this vibe." She smiled, "my brother is gay." What's another lie going to hurt? Anything to keep her dirty paws away from her brother.

"Oh." AJ sat silently for a while, "Gosh, you must think that I'm conceited or something."

_Super_.

"No, of course not!"

Sara studied her while she looked around the room, she could see how Punk had fallen for her. The girl was absolutely gorgeous. But that served no justice for what – she assumed – was an ugly heart. No way could she do what she'd done, if she had a heart of gold. Part of her already disliked the girl; after all, she was the reason that Punk never gave her a shot. She could've really made him happy.

"Sara?"

"Oh, yeah… sorry. What's up?"

"I was just thinking that you could drive me around or something? We can use my car, if you'd like."

"Oh, of course, we can actually take my car. I have a few things in my trunk that I need to deliver."

"Sounds good." She smiled, "I'll head out then, I know that you're busy."

"Alright, I'll be by to get you around 6."

"Okay… I'm staying at the Daye Inn, room 224."

"See you then."

Once she had the door locked again, she dug her cell phone out of her pocket. Hitting a few things on the screen, she then brought the device to her ear.

"Hey mom, can you set an extra seat for dinner? I'm bringing a friend over… no in addition to Phil's seat; no, it's not a boy. Mother! Just set the seat, please… okay, thank you. I love you too, see you later on tonight."

_*Click*_

Tonight would definitely be an interesting one.

* * *

**a/n: **Okay, so there's that! Gosh, that chapter was longer than I had thought it was going to be, nonetheless I hope that y'all enjoyed it! Lots of stuff is about to start happening… Sara seems to have something up her sleeve, huh? We'll find out what it is in the next chapter!


	18. Chapter 18

**a/n: **A lot is going to start happening in these next few chapters! If I lose anyone – or should there just be the slightest bit of confusion – please to not hesitate to PM me; I'll be happy to clear any misunderstandings up!

* * *

**CHAPTER 18  
**_let the chips fall_

* * *

"I repeat, you _cannot _invite her to the house! You know that Phil is going to be there!"

"Exactly." Sara replied as she pulled onto the street in her red _Charger_, "I don't know why we're trying to avoid this."

"Uh, maybe because it could end very badly?!"

"Or it could be the best thing to ever happen, you and I both know why she's here anyway."

"That doesn't matter, Sara. Phil… damnit, you just can't do it this way."

"Well, it's already going to be done, so ha."

"Sara…"

"Look, I already told mom that I was bringing someone."

"So tell her that they canceled!"

"You mean lie?! To mom?! You animal."

"Don't go acting all innocent, missy! Don't you remember your 'study sessions' at 'Jennys'?!"

"Ah, high school." She smiled at the memories, "But this is now, and I already told mom, so it's happening."

"Sara Beth Rollins!"

"Well, I gotta go, bye big brother!"

"Sara!"

Hitting the end button, Sara put her phone in the middle console, seeing the big yellow sign of her destination; she eased her way into the parking lot. Spotting AJs vehicle, she parked near it and exited her own vehicle. Taking the elevator up to the second floor, she found AJs room and knocked on the door. It took a few minutes, but the brunette finally answered.

"Oh, hey! Come on in, I just need to put my shoes on."

Entering the room, the redhead looked around the tight space; papers were strewn around on a small table nearby. Checking to make sure that AJ was still occupied, Sara made her way over to the table. Phil Brooks was the name on most of those papers, looks like she really was trying to track Punk down. But what were her motives exactly?

"Alright, I'm ready."

"Awesome," she smiled, "I only have a couple deliveries to make, so I won't keep you long… but you'll be able to see the whole town basically, so it won't be a total loss."

"That sounds good to me."

Once they were back inside Sara's car, she began driving towards one of her destinations. Silence filled the space between them for quite some time, except for the radio playing softly through the speakers.

"Look, I know that I shouldn't be nosey… but I just have to know."

"Okay…?"

"Who is Phil Brooks? Is he why you're here? Why you want me to drive you around?"

It took a while for the brunette to answer, the uneasiness she felt was clearly written on her face, "I-um, he's an ex-boyfriend of mine."

"And? Is he here or something?"

She shrugged, "I think so, a friend of mine tracked him down, and this is his last known place."

"Mhm." She nodded.

"You think that I'm crazy, don't you?"

"Just a little…"

"I really don't know why I'm doing this… I leave for vet school in August."

"So… sorry, just clarify for me. Your intention is to find him, just to leave again?"

"It sounds bad, but basically. My true intention is to get him back to his family, but I also want to give us a try again."

"Hm…" the redhead stayed silent for a bit, "I know that I don't know you, or the situation; but this can't end well."

"Maybe not , but I promised his family that I'd try."

* * *

It had been about an hour since Sara had dropped her off at her hotel. The rest of their ride was filled with silence, except for when Sara pointed out certain places; such as her parents' home. Even though most of the ride was a little tense, she had a good time overall. She sat staring blankly at the television screen, when an idea came to her head.

Throwing her blanket off of her, she reached for her iPhone on the nearby table. After a few clicks, she finally came to the page she needed to be at. Scrolling up, she didn't see anything too interesting, until she came across a picture that Sara was tagged in.

"_Little sister graduated today! Thanks to Punk for road tripping with me… we love you Sara Beth!"_

Sara – who was blonde at the time was between Seth and Phil, the way she was looking at him caused her blood to boil. How could she not tell her that she knew him? A little too well it seemed. Were the two a couple? Is this why she doesn't want her to find him?

There was only one way to find out.

* * *

He didn't really understand how he could be waiting so patiently for his sister to get to their parents house. Ever since they had gotten off the phone earlier, he had been a complete wreck. Hell, he even wanted to sabotage Punk coming over; but he knew that would make the whole ordeal far worse than it already was. When he saw her _Charger _pull into the driveway, he ran to meet her at the car.

"Where is she?"

"Calm down psycho, she isn't coming."

"Thank god," he replied, "wait, how do I know that this isn't some trick of yours?"

"As much as I would love to say that it is, it's not."

Stepping aside, he helped her out of her vehicle, "You're kind of freaking me out here, are you okay? Did something happen?"

The redhead sighed, "It's not a good idea for her to find Punk."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she's just going to leave him again, she told me that she's leaving for the University of Georgia in the fall."

"Son of a bitch."

"Mhm, so he obviously can't go to work. Edwards is the only convenience store in town."

"Don't worry about that, he's not on the schedule for the next couple of days. Hopefully she's gone by then."

Seeing Punks _Jeep _pull up behind her vehicle, Sara nodded her response and patted her brother on the arm, before heading towards the house.

"What's her deal?"

"Uh, just a hectic day at work, how are ya man?"

"Good, starving actually."

Seth laughed, "Good, mom is just about done with the lasagna."

* * *

She was fit to be tied, how could Sara do something like this? Granted, it's not like her and the girl were besties, but still. To act clueless about a man she _clearly _knew all about. Maybe too well. The nerve of some people.

The sun was beginning to go down, when she decided to track the redhead down. She knew from their conversation earlier that she split time staying at her parents and her brothers house. If she was even telling the truth then. Nonetheless, she at least, she at least had a place to start her hunt for Ms. Rollins. It only took a few minutes to drive across town to the home of Zachary and Margaret Rollins.

The home was absolutely breathtaking, a place she could see herself having in a few years. A porch wrapped about the two-story white panel home, black shutters adorned the windows. A white picket fenced enclosed the yard, Margaret – she assumed – had planted various gardens throughout the yard. To think that Zachary and a few friends managed to build this themselves, amazed her.

Sara's car was parked in the driveway, so the girl had to be there somewhere. Sighing, she switched her ignition off and exited her car. Opening the gate, she then made her way up a stone pathway. Upon getting to the door, she could hear laughter coming from the family inside. Knowing that she really needed answers, she reluctantly pushed the doorbell and waited.

"Just set the game up, I'll get the door!"

She instantly felt her cheeks flush, she _knew _that voice. Could it really be him? Turning around, she started making her way out of the yard; there was no way that she was ready for this. Not tonight.

"Can I help you?" she stopped as soon as he spoke to her. Frozen, she continued to stare out at the street. "Hello?"

"Miss?" she heard the door close and his heavy footsteps cross the porch, and go down the steps. Chills went up and down her spine when he came to a stop behind her, "Hello?" he tapped on her shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly began turning on her heel. Whatever happened next would make or break her whole purpose of coming here. When she finally faced him, she removed the cap she was wearing, letting her hair fall past her shoulders. She could hear him catch his breath, turning her face until their eyes locked; they simply stared at each other for a while.

"Holy sh—no way," he ran his fingers through his unkept, now black hair, "AJ?"

"Hi, Punk."

* * *

**a/n: **UH-OH! So the two finally manage to see each other! DUN DUN DUUUUUN. In the next chapter we'll see how all of that plays out. please, let me know what you think! I promise not to leave y'all hanging for long. ;-)


	19. Chapter 19

**a/n: **Thanks for sticking with me! Someone from 'Long Live' shows up at the tattoo shop in this chapter, who could it be?!

* * *

**CHAPTER 19  
**_even if it breaks your heart_

* * *

Things had gotten much better once Ashley jumped on board the PunkLee train.

Everyone talked openly about the possibilities should Punk return home. Would he be the same person they had come to know? Would he be willing to give AJ another shot? Not that anyone would be too heartbroken if he decided that he no longer wanted her. Except for the kids, they'd get over it eventually though; they hoped.

At least they couldn't run away from home. Successfully, that is.

Unfortunately, they hadn't heard much from AJ since she left Andrus the day before. All they knew was that she had arrived in at her hotel, and that she would start her search earlier this morning. Ever since then, they had heard nothing. Not that they were surprised or anything. AJ Lee was notorious for that.

Hearing the bell on the front door ring, Randy left the storage room to see who had come in. He was surprised by who he saw, so much so that he had to do a double take.

"Kaitlyn?"

* * *

Rain drops began to fall around them, as they stood on the sidewalk. He had lost a tremendous amount of weight, since she'd last seen him. His eyes, they were still the same intense shade of green; they seemed to be the only thing that _had _stayed the same about the man.

She watched as he looked her up and down, could he be wondering if she was actually here? How many times had he thought she had come back, only to find that his mind was playing tricks on him? Almost as if reading her mind, he reached over and traced her jaw line.

"It's really you this time." He muttered.

"Yeah… yeah it is."

"How did you find me?"

"Nattie… she helped me."

"That doesn't answer my question."

She sighed, "She's a Chicago detective… she ran you name through the system, what she found lead me here."

He was silent for a while, in the small time she was with him; she had figured out that she needed to leave him alone with his thoughts. He'd speak up whenever he was ready. It was one of the things she had grown to love about him. He didn't want to say something that he didn't really mean, so he took the time to really get his thoughts in order.

"You should go."

Well, she wasn't expecting _that_.

"E-excuse me?"

"Go, leave, walk away." He started stepping back, "that is what you're good at, isn't it?"

With that, he turned on his heel and headed back towards the house. He ignored her when she called out for him. She ran for him, stopping only when he slammed the front door in her face. She stayed put for a while, hopeful that he'd come back and at least let her explain. An eternity passed before she realized that he wasn't going to make an attempt.

Defeated, she turned on her heel and headed back to her car. Once inside, she leaned heavily against the steering wheel and finally let the tears fall.

* * *

"So, he just up and left one day?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

He took in the brunettes' nod of understanding. The two had spent the last hour or so catching up over root beer and pizza. Ashley and Violet said that they'd be by with the kids after their naps. Kaitlyn was in Atlanta for some sort of convention – she now owned her own business. A fitness wear shop, that momentarily only existed online.

When she made the decision t to visit for a few days, she expected things to be a little different. She admitted that she and AJ weren't as close as they once were. No hard feelings, life just got in the way. During their chat, she informed him that the other girls from their "squad" would be in town tomorrow. Natalya, Eve and Kelly were going to be wearing her line in a fashion show at the end of the week. It was her hope that AJ would participate, but at the moment, it didn't seem possible.

"I know that AJ was absolutely crazy about him, Nattie said that she turned every boy down in Florida. Hell, even Bryan wanted to get back with her for some reason, she said no. She wanted Phil Brooks and only Phil Brooks." She sighed, "It just doesn't make sense that she wouldn't keep in contact with someone she wanted so badly."

"Who knows," he shrugged, "But hopefully she's able to find him and bring him back to us. We miss him terribly; it's getting hard to explain to the kids where he's at. Xavier went through this phase where he'd tell everyone that his Uncle Phil was dead, which made Charlotte freak out like you wouldn't believe."

"Oh, that's horrible." Her face shown the heartache she was feeling, "I know that she'll bring him back to all of you, she doesn't give up easily."

Randy simply nodded his response, for everyone's' sake, he hoped that Kaitlyn was right.

* * *

She drove around the city for what seemed like hours. The storm had intensified as time went by; her wipers could hardly keep up whenever she arrived at her destination. It was a small hill that overlooked the small town of Daye. She didn't care that she'd wake up tomorrow morning with a cold. Hell, she didn't care if she woke up _at all._

Tomorrow she'd leave for Andrus, it was obvious that she wasn't wanted here. She'd tell everyone that while he appeared to have been in Daye, Georgia at some point, he was long gone by now. Phil Brooks, would never return home, they'd be better off just moving on. Maybe they'd leave Andrus altogether, none of them were natives after all.

As for her, she'd start vet school, at the University of Georgia in the fall. Her workload would consume her once again, thoughts of Phil would diminish over time. Everything would eventually work itself out.

That, unfortunately meant that she'd be miserable for at least four more years.

No one would ever love her the way he did. What took Daniel Bryan nearly 3 years to ignite, took Phil Brooks a mere few weeks. A fire still burned for him, she selfishly kept it lit in hopes that they'd reunite, and pick up where they had left off. A fool's dream, one that she knew she wouldn't wake up from anytime soon.

As much as it hurt, she hoped that Sara took good care of him. Phil was a fragile soul, with a heart of gold; she hoped that the redhead protected it at all costs. She hated to admit it, but AJ was more than certain that Sara would treat him just fine. Sara's' actions today proved that to her. They had to of been together for at least 3 years, he seemed to be happy.

Because she still loved him with all of her heart, she had to be happy about that. Even if it was just a front for everyone else, even if it hurt like hell. For Phil Brooks, she had to do it.

* * *

**a/n: **There we have it! What does everyone think about having Kaitlyn back in the picture? The other girls will be in the next chapter… I hope that you all enjoyed this one! I already have the next couple of chapters written out, I just need to type/edit them! :) Thank y'all so much for everything!


	20. Chapter 20

**a/n: **Ahh, so the last few chapters were crazy, huh? Well, it's only going to get crazier! thank y'all so much for the support!

* * *

**CHAPTER 20  
**_last chance_

* * *

He couldn't really bring himself to understand why he'd done it. There she was, the woman who had dominated his every thought, standing right in front of him; and he sent her a_way_.

Maybe it was the vengeful side of him. He wanted her to feel the pain he'd felt when she never came back. What she didn't need to know, was that he fought every urge to take her right there in the front yard. He didn't care who watched, he just needed to taste her again. Make her regret all the time they had spent apart.

She was just as beautiful as he remembered her to be, not that he expected anything different. Her brown locks now had traces of highlights, her brown eyes mesmerized him just as they always had. When he touched her face, chills ran up and down his spine… god he just wanted to hold her body against his own.

He could've too, had he not made the rash decision to tell her to leave moments later. He drove nearly all night, looking for her. She hadn't gone back to the hotel whenever she left the Rollins' place, hell, she was probably halfway to Andrus by now. Or wherever she was heading back to.

He went by the hotel again when morning came. No luck then, either. Now he was certain that she was gone, he'd really never get the chance to hold her again.

Why did he have to be so stupid?!

* * *

She didn't understand.

If Phil wanted her to leave so badly, why was he looking for her?

She watched him drive around town, stopping by the hotel twice. He'd hit the steering wheel whenever he'd see that she wasn't there. Part of her wanted to run out to him, just let him hold her; like he'd wanted to do last night. She'd seen the flicker in his eyes, when he reached for her. It was the same look he had every time they had made love.

If only he knew how badly she wanted him to.

After sleeping in her car last night, she woke knowing that she couldn't just leave. She didn't know why she ever let the thought pass through her mind to begin with.

She wanted Phil Brooks and she wasn't going to leave without him.

* * *

Seth knew who it was that showed up at his parents' house last night. Punk tried to play it off as "the wrong house", but you don't get drenched because someone got lost. Plus, the way he slammed the door, set his radar off as well. Then he skipped out on their board game, which he happened to pick to begin with, and Punk just never did that.

He'd thought about what Sara had told him before dinner, it just didn't sit right with him. Why would this girl go through all this trouble, just to leave again? It was either a misunderstanding, or AJ was actually a heartless witch.

He knew that there was only one way to figure it out.

**TWO HOURS LATER**

It didn't take long for him to show up at her hotel room. Her _Camaro _was still in the parking lot, so he knew that she was still around. After knocking a couple times, he leaned against the railing and waited for an answer. It took a few moments, but soon enough, he dark green door began to open.

"Seth?"

"We need to have a little chat."

* * *

"So, no one has heard a_nything _from her?"

"Not a word."

It was noon, and the scene looked like a page from 4 years ago. Eve, Natalya, Kelly and Kaitlyn, sat on the patio chairs at Randy and Ashley's place. Randy, who was thrilled to have guys around, took the girls' boyfriends inside to watch basketball. Ashley, Violet and the girls decided to catch some rays near the pool.

"That's so unlike her, an update would be nice."

"You're telling us." Violet replied, "We're dying over here."

"I'm sure she had good reason," Eve, who was now a self-defense instructor, stated.

"Yeah…" Kelly – the aspiring model began, "Maybe she hasn't been able to leave her bedroom." She added with a wink.

"Kelly!"

"What? I'm just saying… they have _a lot _of catching up to do."

"Gross, true, but gross."

"C'mon, we're all adults here."

The group stayed quiet for a while, all lost in their own thoughts. Jokes aside, everyone was worried about their current situation. AJ was usually pretty good about contacting everyone despite her track record of the last four years. Something must've come up for her not to keep people in the loop. Whether that was good or bad, they had yet to figure out.

Something had to happen soon, there's no telling how much more anticipation everyone could handle.

* * *

"Did Phil send you? I'm leaving already, okay?"

"He doesn't have the slightest clue that I'm even here." Seth replied as he took a seat at the table; motioning for AJ to join him. Once she did, he leaned back, "What exactly do you want from Phil?"

"Him. I just want him."

"But you told Sara that you would be leaving in August again… so what's the point?"

She sighed, "I'm going to the University of Georgia, it's only like an hour and a half away from Andrus. I'd be able to visit every single weekend, classes won't be every day, so I'll be with him. It's not going to be like it was last time."

Seth didn't answer for a while. She could tell that he was struggling with what to say next, poor thing, he was in a really tough spot. Does he continue to protect his very best friend, or does he go against everything and try to help AJ?

"I can't promise you that things are going to work out the way that you want them to," he sighed, "but if you _really _have his best interest at heart, I'll help you."

"What about Sara and Phil? You realize that if this goes badly…"

"Yeah, yeah…" he replied, "I've witnessed the guy go through hell over you. I know that he sent you away last night, but he didn't really w_ant _to. You guys need to figure out what it is you really want from each other. And Sara… well, I could always change my name and move to Mexico."

She smiled a bit, "I know exactly what I want from him. I know that I did him wrong, and I deserve whatever he dishes out. But, I think that deep down, he really wants me back too."

"What if you're wrong?"

She sighed, she had thought of that possibility a lot. Of course, she hoped that it wasn't true. But she was also semi-prepared for that outcome.

"Then… then, he at least needs to let me take him back to his family. Let me make at least one thing right for him."

The rest of his visit was filled with their plans for later on that day. She'd go over to Seth's place to meet with Phil again. If he didn't show up there, they'd go over to his place. Should that fall through, there was one last place Punk would go to clear his head. Seth said they would play all of that by ear though.

Once he left, AJ threw herself on her bed. This was it, her last chance to make everything right… for everyone.

* * *

**a/n: **Do y'all think that Seth is making the right choice in helping AJ? We'll find out in the next chapter how everything goes! AJ may also let Punk know just why she stopped contact with him all those years ago. STAY TUNED!


	21. Chapter 21

**a/n: **Soooo much has started to happen! For those that have kept up with the story, thank you so so much for the support! In chapter 21 we'll finally get the biggest question answered, why didn't AJ keep in contact with Phil? Read on to find out!

* * *

**CHAPTER 21  
**_baggage claim_

* * *

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

For the past hour or so, Seth sat with Sara in his living room. AJ was due to be over any minute, he hadn't heard from Phil at all. Sara had somehow found out about his little deal with AJ, and decided to come tell him_ exactly _how she felt about it. It was obvious that she wasn't on board with the plan.

"Sara, stop it already." Seth sighed, "This needs to happen, he already knows that she'd in town, there's no need to try and hide the truth anymore."

"He thinks that she left already! Just let her go."

"_No_. Besides, weren't you the one all gung ho about them seeing each other and figuring all of this out?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yes! But that was before she told me that she was leaving again. We need to protect him, not throw him in the lions den."

"I know that you don't see things the way that I do anymore… but I can't sit back and watch him beat himself up over the 'what ifs'. He's my best friend, whether you like it or not, this is my way of protecting him."

The redhead fell silent then, he could see the worry written all over her face. His sister really did care for Phil, she loved him with all of her heart. Unfortunately, that hindered her from being able to see that all of this was for the best. Sure, there was the chance that this wouldn't work out in Phil's best interests. But it would provide some much needed closure.

"Fine." Sara finally spoke, "But, I'm going with you… if she steps out of line, I'm taking her out!"

He laughed as he enveloped her in his arms, "Settle down, tiger. Everything will work out the way it's supposed to. We just need to be prepared for whatever that is."

**TWO HOURS LATER**

AJ showed up soon after Seth and Sara figured everything out. They gave Phil an hour or so to show up, when he didn't, they loaded up in Seth's truck and headed to Phil's place. Surprisingly, Sara kept things rather friendly with the brunette. Her guard was still very much up though, if AJ felt uneasy in the slightest, she didn't show any signs. At least things wouldn't be as chaotic as he had previously thought. That made him feel much better.

Driving by Phil's house, he noticed that his Jeep wasn't in the driveway. His garage door was closed, which meant that he was out and about somewhere. He knew where that somewhere was too, Phil Brooks was a man of habit. Seth drove across town ignoring the 'where are we going' questions from the females with him.

Just as he suspected there was the dark green vehicle, parked in its usual spot. Pulling up next to it, she shifted into park, and looked over at AJ.

"Alrighty, we're here." He pointed out of his windshield, "just follow that path, you'll find him."

"You've got to be kidding me…" she replied as she opened her door, "this is where I came last night… after he told me to leave."

She faintly heard their replies as she completely exited the vehicle. Even thought they'd been apart for so long, it was still apparent that they were one the same wavelength. Tucking her hands into her pockets, she trudged along the dirt path for a couple minutes. When she saw him sitting at the same place she'd been the night before, she took a deep breath and walked towards him.

"Phil?"

He turned slightly, locking eyes with her before turning back around. Surprised that he didn't shun her, she continued walking until she stood next to him. After a few moments of awkward standing, she watched as he shifted his body a bit; allowing her to sit next to him. When she got a whiff of his cologne, her breath caught in her throat. Oh, how she missed that smell.

"I'm surprised that you're still here."

"Oh well, you know me… I'm quite persistent." She joked.

"Not enough."

Her smile quickly faded, she watched as he clenched his jaw. There were lines on his face, ones that she knew hadn't been there four years before. She wanted to reach over and touch him so badly, she didn't though, for fear of being pushed away. His hair was slicked back, she just wanted to run her fingers through it.

"I saw the gang a couple days ago… they're worried sick over you." She drew her knees up to her chest, "That's part of the reason I came looking for you."

Silence.

"Charlotte is beautiful, just like her mom. Xavier… well he's just a handsome devil. Randy, Ashley and Violet have their hands full, that's for sure."

"Then there's Emma, she's new to the group. She's Australian or something like that… owns a sandwich shop next to the tattoo shop. I think you'll like her."

Still nothing.

Damnit Phil, say something; anything; _please_."

He scratched the back of his head, picked up a blade of grass and threw it. It was a few more moments before he finally decided to speak.

"What do you want from me?"

She sighed, moving a stray piece of hair from her face, "I just want you."

"Why?" he held up his hand when she tried to speak, "four years. AJ, four; with not a single word from you. No calls, emails, texts, _nothing_. Four 1,460 days I wanted you… more importantly, I wanted you to want me. But I got nothing."

"Until now, I want you Phil Brooks."

He scoffed, "Why now, huh? Did your trust fund boyfriend decide that you weren't good enough anymore? And what makes you think that I even still want you?"

"There was never a trust fund boyfriend, hell, there was never _any_ boyfriend." She wiped a tear away, "I always wanted you."

For the first time, he finally turned to look at her, "Then why leave me dangling like that? I would've moved mountains for you, AJ Lee. How come you never gave me that chance?"

She couldn't stop the tears now. Resting her head against her knees, she let them fall freely. When she finally looked up again, she found that his eyes were locked on her.

"Because I – I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"What are you talking about? Nothing would have happened to me."

"I cried for you… I yelled out your name and you never came!"

He scrunched his eyebrows, "I'm not following you."

Patting her cheeks dry, she took a few deep breaths and looked at him, "It was my second week of school, I went to ask about my term paper…"

"Oh, AJ…"

"... my professor wasn't there, but her student aid was." She watched as the color began to drain from his face, "I – I tried to leave but he locked the doors."

Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned and saw that Seth and Sara had joined them. From the looks on their faces, she knew that they had heard the beginning of her story.

"When I tried to run past him, he pushed me and I hit my head on the corner of her desk." She pushed her hair back, showing her scar, "When I came to, he was… on top of me, it hurt so much! That's when I started crying for you." Sighing, she continued, "When he finished, he said that if I told anyone, he'd do it again."

"You didn't believe him, did you?" she heard Sara ask, "Please tell me that you told someone."

"I didn't have to. My professor has a security camera in her office, whenever she's out for any reason, she turns it on and reviews the tape whenever she gets back. When she saw, she called me into her office and informed me that she had to turn the tape over to the authorities. She allowed myself and Nattie to stay at her house while the case went to court. It didn't take long for the others to come forward."

"So, the scumbag had done it before?"

"Multiple times." She shrugged, "he's in prison now, serving a life sentence – no possibility of parole."

"AJ…" Phil finally spoke, "I just don't understand why you never called me. The guy wouldn't have been able to hurt you with me around."

"He's from a prominent family. Even though he's pretty much been disowned – his sister graduated with me – they have no contact with him whatsoever. Anyway, he still has some ties with _some _people, dangerous people. I just wanted to protect you… I wanted to protect everyone."

Everyone stayed silent for a while. Finally everything had begun to make sense, Phil knew that AJ would have never done anything like this to hurt him. Even though she had.

"I knew that as long as I was in Florida, he'd have this invisible power over me. Even though I wanted so badly to leave, I couldn't leave Natalya like that."

Phil simply nodded, leave it to her to want to protect everyone else around her. Even though she was the one that needed the protection. He should've gone to her when she didn't call. He should've sensed that something was wrong with her.

Instead, he decided to be selfish and run off. He caused pain to the people he cared the most about. Plus, he brought in other people that shouldn't have had to worry about him in the first place.

"Stop it."

"Excuse me?"

"You're beating yourself up over this. There isn't a way you could've known."

"I know but…"

"But nothing. The fact if there's a hundred ways this could've gone, of course I chose the worst possible one." He finally cracked a smile, "but we're here now."

He nodded and began to stand up, after dusting himself off, he looked back down at her, "Yup, we sure are."

Standing up, she walked up to him, "I know that sometimes I'm going to be a lot to manage. I have baggage that I didn't have four years ago. There's going to be tough days, but I promise that I'm going to have just as many good days." She reached for the elastic on his shorts and pulled him closer, "But, I really want you, I want _us_. I'm all yours for the rest of my life, if you'll have me that is."

His expression didn't change much, in fact, it didn't change at all. That scared her more than she'd like to admit. The only thing that brought her peace, was that she'd laid it all out on the line. She'd just have to be prepared for whatever he decided to do.

"Well..." he sighed, "I just…"

Without another word, his lips came crashing against hers. His hands tangled up in her air, her fingers finally got the chance to run through his dark hair. She was completely light-headed when they finally broke from each other. They were both out of breath as they gazed into each other's eyes. Stroking his cheek, she leaned up and kissed him once more. Reaching for her hands, he grabbed onto one of them and began walking forward.

With their fingers intertwined with one another, the duo walked towards the Rollins siblings. Both of whom wore smiles on their faces. Sara enveloped AJ in a tight hug, along with a friendly reminder to take care of the man they both loved dearly. After assuring her that she would, her and Seth left.

With her head resting on his chest, she listened to the steady beat of his heart. "What do you say Miss Lee, let's go home?"

"Andrus?"

"In a couple days." He sighed, "I want it to be just us for a while. Is that okay?"

"Anything's okay… as long as I have you with me."

"For the rest of your life."

* * *

**a/n: **There we have it! They are finally back together… what does everyone think?!


	22. Chapter 22

**a/n:** wow guys, I'm so sorry for the delay in updating. It's been since OCTOBER! Ugh, so many things were going on that caused the delay, writers block, time, just everything! Anyway, I've finally finished this chapter and I do hope that it was worth the wait!

FYI: this chapter takes place 3 days after Phil and AJ make up.

* * *

**CHAPTER 22  
**_ATL_

* * *

He had decided to close the shop early, not that it would've made a difference financially. The place was dead, aside from a couple girls who had just turned 18. Of course, their parents busted in and put a stop to all of it. He charged them double, for the trouble of setting up all of his equipment.

After them, there was nothing.

Violet, Emma, Ashley and the kids were on their way to Atlanta for some fashion show Kaitlyn was putting together. Kaitlyn's other models had backed out for some reason, leading the girls to happily volunteer their services. He was taking off later tonight, a little vacation from the stress known as his life, was long overdue.

They were barely making enough to survive. At this point, Tattoos and Tanlines, was running on hopes and dreams.

Next week he'd be making a call to his parents in Missouri; he could hardly contain his excitement. His mom was an absolute saint, how she dealt with his devil of a step-father all these years was beyond him. The man – who was a retired car salesman – despised his step-son. The feeling was more than mutual.

"Coloring is for kids, boy!"

Ugh, that voice of his gave him a headache. Thankfully, both of his biological parents always told him to follow his dreams. They both gave half of the initial loan to get him and Ashley settled in Georgia. Getting the money from his dad and step-mom wouldn't be a problem. Hell, even getting it from his mom wouldn't be an issue, it was Don that he didn't want to hear from.

See, everyone knew that Eileen Smith (nee Davis), was the one with the money. Thanks to her oilfield tycoon of a father. Randy – being the eldest grandson, and being named after his grandfather – was held in high regard by his maternal family. Despite his occupation. Unfortunately, Don thought that he had a say in their finances, even though their accounts were kept very separate. His mom let him talk; yet, she was the one with the final say… in everything. This is why he knew that he'd get the loan, even if Don cried about it.

That didn't make it any easier to ask, though. But at this point, asking was his only option.

Walking towards the storage room, he decided to finish up the inventory he had put aside when Kaitlyn showed up. Putting an old rock station on his Pandora; he grabbed his spiral from atop a couple boxes and began his work.

He'd leave for Atlanta in a couple hours.

* * *

"Are you nervous?"

"Very much so… I'm just worried about how everyone will react." He sighed, "you didn't say anything, did you?"

"Not a word, which I'm sure they'll appreciate."

AJ smiled when he shot her one of his own. The duo were five miles out of Andrus, nerves were definitely starting to set in. Over the past couple of days, she had gotten to see everything he loved about Daye, all of which included Seth Rollins in some way. She was extremely grateful for Seth and Sara. Those two really cared about Phil; they had taken care of him all this time.

Her favorite part was getting to know each other again. They didn't leave his bedroom for an entire day. He was so sweet with her, oh how she missed the way he tasted. It was like he never forgot how to make love to her. She hadn't felt this good in a long time.

Leaning over, she kissed him on the cheek, "This still feels so unreal to me."

"You're telling me… I think that it took a whole day for me to realize that I actually had you back."

It was true. He didn't let his eyes leave her for a whole day. At night, he'd constantly jolt up and reach for her; she'd cuddle close to him for reassurance. She just wanted him to be himself once again. She wanted him to realize that she was never going to leave again. If that meant constant kisses, cuddles and just being near him; well, that was what she'd do.

"Alright… let's go by the shop first." He checked the time on his dashboard, "It's regular hours, somebody's bound to be there."

"That sounds good to me."

With the way he weaved in and out of traffic, and took the back roads, it was clear that Phil was home again. He looked at everything as though it was the first time he had seen it. Which, technically speaking, it was. Soon enough, they had found their way to Targus Avenue, where the shop was located.

The sign that boasts the name of the place as immensely faded and cracked from the sun. Faded signs were taped to the windows. It most certainly wasn't the place she had come to know all those years ago.

"Holy shit, what the f…" shifting into park, Phil took a good look at the place he had help build, "what in the hell happened?!"

"I – I don't know. I came by here… I guess I was too focused to looking for you that I didn't really pay attention. Randy never mentioned anything to me." Reaching for their door handles, the duo got out of the vehicle. The open sign was not on, the door was locked.

"It can't be closed down, can it?"

"Impossible. They were doing so good." He replied, rattling the door once more. "You know what, hold on."

AJ watched as he jogged to the passenger side of his vehicle, opened the door, and then began rummaging through the glove compartment. Once he found what he wanted, he slammed both of the doors and ran back to the glass entrance. Inserting a gold key into the lock, he turned it right and gave a sigh of relief when he heard it unlock, and he opened the door with ease.

Grabbing her hand, he led her inside. Contrary to its outside looks, the place was spruced up on the inside. Leather couches – though worn, but suitable – were in the waiting area, a flat screen hanging on the wall. Everything else looked exactly as it had four years before.

"Where the hell is everybody?"

"I don't…"

Before she could answer, the two heard a door open and close. Looking towards the hallway, they soon saw the 6 foot 5 figure of Randy Orton emerge from the back of the building.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm locking up right now, and I'll be on the road in like 30 minutes." Randy stopped when he set his eyes on the couple in the room, "Hey – uh, I'm gonna have to call you back."

Once he hung up the phone, he locked eyes with them – well with Phil. "Well, I'll be damned…"

Stuffing his hands in his pant pockets, Phil simply shrugged, "He-hey bud."

"Bud? Four years and that's all you've got for me?"

"Look, I'm really sorry…"

"Shut the fuck up! I don't want to hear apologies and excuses." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Four years… four years… come here man!"

Without another word, Randy closed the gap between the two and enveloped Phil in a tight hug. The two stayed like that for a while, neither saying a single word. Wiping a stray tear, AJ simply smiled, the guys probably dreamed of this moment for quite some time.

After a while, they broke apart from each other, "How in the hell have you been?! No, no, where in the hell have you been?!"

"I'm good – I was just um, finding myself again."

"Why didn't you call or something? God, I have like a million questions."

"And I'll answer every one of them," Phil assured him as he ran his fingers through his hair, "but I have some too… where is everyone else?"

"In Atlanta… Kaitlyn – your Kaitlyn," he said pointing at the petite brunette, "She's doing some fashion show and the girls got roped into modeling."

Both AJ and Phil simply shook their heads. AJ had known of the show, she followed Kaitlyn's fashion line on Twitter. Though, she didn't think that she'd even think of getting the girls into it.

"Yeah… I'm actually headed out that way in a few minutes. You guys want to follow?" he scratched the back of his head, "Oh, what am I saying? Hop in the truck with me, the girls have the Suburban."

Phil nodded, "Yeah, uh, we just need to grab our bags from the Jeep."

"Nice. Just let me lock up, and I'll pull up front."

"Sounds good."

Following closely behind, AJ grabbed on to Phil's arm, "That went well… don't you think?"

"Yeah… but he's hiding something. I can't quite put my finger on it though."

Giving a confused look, she leaned against his hunter green vehicle, "What do you mean?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, I'm just sensing something is all."

"It's probably nothing."

"Maybe…" he said as he grabbed their bags, "I just can't shake this feeling."

"Well," she replied, reaching to close the back door, "Just ask him then. Maybe it's something he's just waiting for someone to ask him about."

"You're so smart." He winked and placed a small kiss on her lips, "There he is, let's go."

* * *

"Okay ladies, we have about 30 minutes. You all look beautiful!"

"The kids are good; they're sitting in the front row, so we'll always have a visual."

"Such a good detective," Violet teased, "I'm going to finish up here, then head outside for a breather. I'm feeling clammed up."

"Alright, I'll be sure to go get you when Kait starts lining us up."

"Sounds good." Putting the finishing touches on her lips, she then grabbed her phone and headed for the front exits.

The girls had been getting ready for the better part of the morning. Kaitlyn had called them in frenzy earlier, the models she had picked out for the show had all gotten food poisoning from their room service. Naturally, they all volunteered their services. Anything to ease her nerves, since this was her first show, they knew that everything had to be perfect.

Granted that this was just the rehearsal for tomorrow, Kaitlyn wanted a "game time preview" as she called it. Not that the girls cared either way, it was nice to be pampered from time to time. Once she got to the front, she looked around confused. Violet and Xavier were not where Natalya had left them.

"Excuse me, miss?" she asked, walking over to a nearby vendor, "did you happen to see where two kids have gone? They're about 4 years old."

"Oh yes, the little girl needed to go to the restroom, so the little boy took her."

"Oh, thank goodness." She smiled and waved goodbye to the woman. Those two were always running off together. It was obvious that she needed to remind them about telling someone they knew where they were going.

Arriving at the restrooms, she looked around confused once again. Xavier was nowhere to be seen, a quick look in the restroom showed that Charlotte was nowhere to be found either. With her heart pounding, she quickly ran for the exit, something definitely wasn't right. The parking lot was somewhat empty, just their vehicle, Kaitlyn's and some of the workers.

"Xavier! Charlotte! Come on guys!"

She began slowly jogging around the building, hoping that they two were just on some random adventure together. Her heart sank lower and lower as she turned each corner to no avail. How was she supposed to tell Ashley about this? She had trusted her with Xavier while she went to get her hair done. It had only been 25 minutes and she had already lost her most prized possession. And Charlotte… that little girl is what kept her going these past four years. She couldn't imagine life without her.

Wiping tears from her eyes, she headed to the front entrance. When she turned her last corner, she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Charlotte! Xavier!" she ran to them with her arms outstretched, "Oh, I was so worried! Where were you two?! I looked everywhere!"

"We were catching Pokémon momma. We founded three!"

"Next time you need to tell momma! Come on; let's go inside, everyone is waiting for us."

"Maybe next time you should put a leash on them… oh, and little bells would be a nice touch too."

"Listen asshole, I don't need rude…"

She stopped mid-sentence when she turned to see a familiar pair of green eyes looking into her brown ones. Without another word spoken, she jumped into his arms. Behind him stood Randy and AJ, both with huge smiles across their faces. She felt one begin to come across her face, a genuine one – something she hadn't done in a while.

"I missed you big brother… so much." She said through a cracking voice.

"I missed you too, baby sister… more than you can ever imagine. I'm so sorry for leaving you."

Digging her face into his neck, she finally let the tears come out. Her brother was back home… her family was back together again.

That was all that mattered.

* * *

**a/n:** so there we have it! The gang is finally reunited! In the coming chapters we'll see how everyone adjusts to being back together again. How will things play out with the shop? We'll find out soon!

**ONLY THREE MORE CHAPTERS.**


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